Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, it is my esteemed honor to congratulate Martha Brown Middle School for being designated as a New York State and National ``School to Watch.'' It is a pleasure to acknowledge Martha Brown's Principal David Dunn, the Fairport School Board, the administration, teachers, faculty and students upon receiving this award as one of only seven newly designated schools in New York State to be honored with this distinction.

The recognition as a national School to Watch means that Martha Brown excels in each of the seven Essential Elements of Standards--Focused Middle Level Schools and Programs. Those seven Essential Elements are: a philosophy and mission that reflect the intellectual and developmental needs and characteristics of young adolescents; an educational program that is comprehensive, challenging, purposeful, integrated, relevant, and standards-based; an organization and structure that support both academic excellence and personal development; classroom instruction appropriate to the needs and characteristics of young adolescents provided by skilled and knowledgeable teachers; strong educational leadership and administration that encourage, facilitate, and sustain involvement, participation, and leadership; a network of academic and personal support available for all students; and professional learning and staff development for all staff that are ongoing, planned, purposeful, and collaboratively developed.

It is especially meaningful for me to know that a school within New York State's 28th Congressional District and my hometown of Fairport has achieved this prestigious honor. It is a true testament to the hard work of the teachers, administrators, and students. The fact that Martha Brown Middle School has been selected from among many qualified middle schools speaks volumes about the school's character and dedication to academic excellence.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Martha Brown Middle School of Fairport Central School District on this well- earned honor. As a ``School to Watch,'' Martha Brown serves as a shining example for other middle schools throughout our entire nation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Mr. James Farr of Rochester, New York for his three-year appointment to the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Commission. The Commission was established by P.L. 106 554 to assist in the preservation, maintenance and interpretation of the historical, natural, cultural, scenic and recreational resources of the Erie Canalway in ways that reflect its national significance. I nominated Jim for the Corridor's Commission on August 25, 2011, and am delighted to have a dedicated member of the Rochester community represented on the Commission.

As an employee of the City of Rochester for over 34 years, Jim's passion for improving this great area of New York will serve as an integral asset to the Commission. He has represented the city as a committee member on both of the World Canal Conferences held in Rochester and has also assisted with and attended a number of the Canal Society of New

York Conferences and events. Currently serving as Assistant Director for Recreation, Jim is responsible for the City's environmental and horticultural education programs and parks stewardship, as well as the oversight of the Rochester Public Market. Jim truly embodies the spirit of this region.

An example of Jim's creativity and dedication to the area is his close work with Parks and Trails New York to coordinate the annual ``Cycle the Erie'' bike tour, which showcases the Canalway's heritage. In addition, Jim is currently a Board member of the Genesee WaterWays Center. He is the former President and a current Foundation member of Monroe County Cooperative Extension. Jim serves as a member of many other related boards and organizations, including the Monroe County Parks Advisory Committee, the Ontario Beach Park Program Committee, the Farmers Market Federation of New York, and the National Association of Produce Market Managers. He is also the secretary and one of the founding board members of the Tony Jordan Youth Sports Foundation, which provides supplemental funding to enhance the quality and integrity of youth sports in the City of Rochester.

The Erie Canalway Corridor is a symbol of American ingenuity and perseverance, and I am grateful for Jim Farr's continued commitment to promoting its national significance by serving on the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Commission. I ask my colleagues to join with me in commending Jim Farr for his long record of public service.

I thank the gentleman for yielding me the customary 30 minutes and yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, first I want to say how happy I am to be back. I appreciate the welcome I've gotten from all my colleagues, and I've missed you terribly. I missed you, like we used to say in Kentucky, like a front tooth.

The bill before us today, Madam Speaker, is another wasted opportunity, I'm afraid. Today's legislation is composed of 14 separate bills, several of which are even bipartisan. But regrettably, these worthy proposals will not be signed into law because the majority has packaged them with other proposals that endanger our environment and public health.

Several of the controversial provisions before us are based on Democratic proposals. Unfortunately, the Democratic bills were taken and rewritten in such a way--extremely--that they can no longer receive bipartisan support. Two provisions in particular illustrate the extremely partisan approach.

First, title 3 would unnecessarily change a long-standing agreement and endanger the biologically sensitive Alaskan wilderness. This provision would open up our Nation's largest national forests to logging and allow rare old-growth forests to be clear-cut and sold for private gain.

Second, in the most extreme proposal before us, title 14 would impose a so-called ``operational control zone'' over almost 100 million square miles of American land.

On Federal land within this zone, the Department of Homeland Security would then be allowed to ignore 36 environmental laws, and Federal border agents would be able to operate with few limits on their power. My good friend from Utah has put forward an amendment to pare the 36 laws down to 16, but that is still 16 too many.

Title 14 proposes a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. Proponents claim that environmental protections prevent the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol from stopping illegal immigration. However, sworn testimony by both Border Patrol officials and the Federal land agency officials contradict this claim. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security opposes this legislation.

My entire district, all of it, would fall under the newly created operational control zone. As a result, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol could take control over all the historic landmarks, such as the Theodore Roosevelt National Historic Site, build anything on it that they needed. And I know my constituents pretty well after this number of years. They would not take to that at all.

Meanwhile, the sacred, historic, and sovereign lands of the Tuscarora Indian Nation would also be open to Federal agents. Such an extreme Federal overreach would violate the sovereignty of the Tuscarora Indian Nation. Many other tribes around the country whose land falls within this zone would face the same problem.

In a letter to the leaders of the House, the United South and Eastern Tribes wrote of the danger of this provision. They wrote:

Many Indian tribes have lands and sacred places located

near U.S. international borders, and we believe that the

sovereignty and cultural integrity of our member tribes and

others is unnecessarily put in jeopardy by the sweeping

approach in this bill.

Federal cooperation, not Federal overreach, is a proven and prudent way to protect our borders. A recent GAO reported confirmed what we learned in sworn testimony: every time Federal cooperation between the Border Patrol officials and our land management officials was requested, it was given--every time. The only time conflicts remained between environmental laws and border enforcement was when Border Patrol officials didn't bother to ask the Department of the Interior nor the USDA for cooperation.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that the majority violated the rules of the House when they combined 14 unrelated bills into the one bill before us today. However, the Rules Committee gave itself a waiver despite repeatedly denying such waivers for Democratic proposals throughout the year. Once again, when the majority wants to break the rules, they find a way. But when Democrats ask for a waiver for one of our proposals, all of a sudden the rules of the House have been written in stone.

I urge my colleagues to oppose today's extreme and partisan legislation and to stand up against the Federal overreach contained within this bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

I yield an additional minute to the gentleman.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to a member of the Committee on Natural Resources, the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa).

I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis), a valued member of the Committee on Rules.

I will be glad to yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Madam Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I'm going to offer an amendment to the rule that will allow the House to consider the United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act. Call centers have been outsourced more than pretty much any other type of job from the United States. This bill will help keep call center jobs in America.

And to discuss his call center proposal, I'm pleased to yield 5 minutes to my colleague from New York (Mr. Bishop).

I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey, Rob Andrews.

(Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis), a member of the Rules Committee.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

In closing, we have wasted yet another opportunity to pass some bipartisan legislation here. Everybody

knows this bill is not going to be taken up in the Senate, so it's again a day and a half of exercise in some kind of procedure by the House of Representatives. By combining worthwhile proposals with extreme and partisan proposals, they've continued to move forward with an ineffective and unnecessary partisan agenda.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the Record along with extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' and defeat the previous question. I urge a ``no'' vote on the rule, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably detained and missed rollcall vote Nos. 371, 372, 373, 374, 375, 376, 377, and 378. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall vote Nos. 374, 376, and 377. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall vote Nos. 371, 372, 373, 375 and 378.

Personal Explanation

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained and missed rollcall vote Nos. 358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, and 370. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall vote Nos. 360, and 369. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall vote Nos. 358, 359, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, and 370.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained and missed rollcall Nos. 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, and 344. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall vote Nos. 320, 321, 325, 327, 329, 330, 331, 340, 341 and 344. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall vote Nos. 319, 322, 323, 324, 326, 328, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 342, and 343.

Mr. Chair, I was unavoidably detained and missed rollcall vote Nos. 345, 347, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, 356, and 357. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall vote Nos. 345, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 354, 356 and 357. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall Nos. 346, 352, 353, and 355.

Mr. Speaker, it is my esteemed honor and privilege to congratulate the Girl Scout tech team, known as the Hippie Pandas, who participated in the FIRST 2012 Championship--a celebration of science, technology, and robots involving more than 600 student teams from 32 countries around the world. For their innovative work and outstanding professionalism, the Hippie Pandas of Rochester, New York, were awarded the ``Gracious Professionalism Award.''

As someone who places great value on science and technology, I am so pleased to see the tremendous success of these four girls from Rochester, New York. The Hippie Pandas, aged 11 14, are not only an inspiration for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education for girls around the country, but they have also found a creative way to help communities in Nicaragua.

After learning that women in Nicaragua experience a high rate of miscarriage and disease because they drink unpasteurized milk, the Hippie Pandas set out to use their skills to develop an inexpensive and accessible solution to address this pressing problem. With the help of their coach and mentor, Cheryl Lawniczak, a chemical engineer at Eastman Kodak Co, and faculty members at the Rochester Institute of Technology, the girls designed and built a solar powered device to heat milk to 145 degrees to kill harmful bacteria.

The Hippie Pandas initially used a thermometer to determine when the milk reached target temperature, but realizing this would be impractical for most Nicaraguan women, they developed a clever and natural alternative--beeswax, which melts when milk has reached 145 degrees.

This solar powered milk pasteurizing device is currently being implemented in Nicaragua to help women treat raw milk so that it is safe to drink. As one of the Hippie Pandas stated, ``One thing we definitely learned is how dangerous raw milk can be and how pasteurization helps. . .We also learned that as kids, we can help people around the world to live safer lives.''

At a time when we as a nation have fallen behind in STEM education, the success of the Hippie Pandas is truly inspirational. The life lessons of teamwork, leadership, and dedication can only be learned through hard work and experience.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating each of these girls along with their mentors at Rochester Institute of Technology and Eastman Kodak Co. for their innovative work and dedication to science and technology.

Mr. Chair, I was unavoidably detained and missed rollcall vote Nos. 315, 316, 317, and 318. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall vote Nos. 315, 316, 317, 318.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained and missed rollcall vote Nos. 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304 and 305. Had I been present, I would have voted ``Aye'' on rollcall vote Nos. 300, 301, 302, 304 and 305. Had I been present, I would have voted ``No'' on rollcall vote Nos. 297, 298, 299, and 303.

Mr. Chair, I was unavoidably detained and unable to be present for the vote on the Grimm Amendment to H.R. 5854, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. I want to state for the record that I strongly support this amendment, and had I been present, I would have voted yes.

Mr. Grimm's amendment would strike the anti-project labor agreement language inserted into the bill. This bi-partisan amendment is an important defense against Republican attacks on labor and project labor agreements.

As a Member of Congress, I take the responsibility to protect workers' rights seriously, and I support economic solutions that protect and lift all Americans--not just the privileged few--in order to create a safe and prosperous nation for all. A cornerstone of this economy are Project Labor Agreements, which are pre-hire agreements that establish the terms and conditions of employment to ensure tax payer funded projects use local workers to finish on time and under budget.

It is time to rebuild our economy in a way that is consistent with our values. Until all Americans are back to work, more must be done on behalf America's middle class and working families. Project Labor Agreements are a vital part of this process, and I strongly support all attempts to protect them.

Madam Chair, I was unavoidably detained and missed rollcall vote Nos. 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313 and 314. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall vote Nos. 308, 312, and 313. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall vote Nos. 306, 307, 309, 310, 311 and 314.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained and unable to be present for the vote on H.R. 3541, the Prenatal Non-Discrimination Act. Had I been present, I want to state for the record that my vote on this bill would have been a resounding no.

This bill is nothing more than a further attack on women and women's health from a majority paty that claims to be focusing on job creation and economic growth. Yet, today they present us with the ninth opportunity in this Congress to restrict women's acess to reproductive health care.

Passing this bill would mean someone would have to stand in the operating room and judge the motives of a woman seeking a Constitutionally protected medical procedure. A doctor could be sent to prison for five years if it can be shown that sex-selection was a factor in the decision to have an abortion. Of course, the doctor would have to either be a mind reader to know the reasons behind a woman's decision, or subject her to unreasonable scrutiny. If the doctor even suspects that sex-selection was involved, but does not report, she or he can be sent to prison for a year. The idea that threatening to incarcerate an obstetrician is somehow protecting women is ludicrous. It only serves to intimidate doctors and keep them from providing medically necessary and often life-saving services for their patients.

Furthermore, this bill allows for an injunction preventing an abortion to be granted by a court if a woman's husband or her parents allege that sex-selection was a factor in the decision to have an abortion. A simple allegation from a third party can therefore prevent a woman from making a private and legal decision in consultation with her doctor. That is absolutely unacceptable.

Sex-selective abortions are a legitimate concern. But this bill is a false solution to a very real problem. If the supporters of this bill truly wanted to end gender discrimination, they would be working on policies that address the root causes of inequality that plague women in America. They would be working to truly empower women to make decisions about their health and reproductive care. They would be working with us across the aisle to support federal programs that benefit women and their families, such as the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Instead they are on record voting to defund domestic and international family planning programs, dismantle health care reform, and in favor of proposals like the Ryan Budget that slash support for the most vulnerable women and families in this country.

I would welcome the opportunity to work with my colleagues across the aisle on actual solutions to the problems of gender discrimination and inequality in this country. The Prenatal Non-Discrimination Act simply does not address the real issues facing America.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained and missed rollcall vote Nos. 250, 251 and 252. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall vote Nos. 250, 251 and 252.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained and missed rollcall vote Nos. 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, and 258. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall vote Nos. 256 and 257. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall vote Nos. 253, 254, 255 and 258.