Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor former Mann County counsel Douglas Maloney who passed away on February 17, 2010 at his home in San Rafael, California. Serving on the legal frontlines of county government for more than three decades, Marin has greatly benefited from his unwavering dedication and skilled advocacy of the public's best interest.

Born in San Francisco in 1933, Mr. Maloney, a 50-year member of the California Bar Association, received his bachelor's degree from the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo, California, and his law degree from the University of San Francisco. A world traveler, voracious reader, exceptional public speaker, and a prolific writer, Doug Maloney loved life!

It was Doug Maloney who led the county's legal defense of the ``Marin-only'' provision in Ross philanthropist Beryl Buck's multi- million-dollar bequest. Maloney took on the San Francisco Foundation's challenge to spend the millions on needs beyond the county borders. With an outstanding legal team, he presented strong arguments upholding the Buck bequest and proving that, despite Marin's affluence, there were plenty of needs right in the county that could use financial assistance. The 1986 court-approved settlement transferred the Buck Trust to newly formed Marin Community Foundation to focus funds on research into aging, advocacy against alcohol abuse and research into educational issues. Had that battle been lost, Marin would be a far different place.

The legal engineer of land-use restrictions that saved West Marin from suburban sprawl, Maloney successfully defended the county's 1972 zoning restrictions designed to preserve and protect West Marin farmland and the ranching lifestyle. Challenged in 1989, Maloney won a federal court decision upholding the zoning restrictions and turning back a lawsuit by a Chicago landowner wanting to carve up his 561-acre Nicasio ranch. While we may take our open space and ranch lands for granted, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to the vision, political courage and legal skill of Douglas Maloney.

A man of great personal integrity and not one to back away from a rousing legal argument, Doug was good humored and a passionate follower of film and stage. He enjoyed rewriting fashionable Broadway shows and stage musicals, putting on a Marin spin and political satire to benefit local causes, complete with titles like, ``As the Candidate Turns,'' ``Damn Yuppies'' and ``Caucus Line.'' A popular op-ed columnist for the Marin Independent Journal, readers enjoyed his musings and appreciated his skill at weaving literature, history, politics, opinion and the proverbial Marin angle into his biweekly essays.

Doug Maloney was a devoted husband and father. In addition to his sister, Marion Berger of Redding, California, Mr. Maloney is survived by his wife of twenty-two years, Ellen Caulfield of San Rafael, Marin County, six children, ten grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Madam Speaker, Douglas Maloney will be missed by so many who shared in his work and vision. A man of letters and the law, he practiced what he preached. It is fitting to recognize his extraordinary efforts on behalf of Marin County and its residents. I join the many people who will miss Doug Maloney's inspiration, friendship, bright spirit, and clever quotes delivered with perfect timing and meaning.

Madam Speaker, on February 26, 2010, on rollcall No. 71 (Schauer of Michigan amendment), I inadvertently voted ``no'' when I had intended to vote ``aye.''

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1117) commending and congratulating the California State University system on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on H. Res. 1117 into the Record.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1117, authored by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, a bill that celebrates California State University, CSU, for 50 years of service and leadership. In 1960, California developed its master plan for higher education. Since that time, this plan has provided access to higher education for the State's diverse array of students. In that same year, Mr. Speaker, with the passage of the Donahue Higher Education Act, California's individual State colleges were brought together to form the esteemed CSU system.

Since its inception, California State University has grown into an exemplary set of higher education institutions. The CSU boasts 23 campuses, seven off-campus centers, and over 433,000 students. In addition, the system maintains 44,000 faculty and staff, offering 1,800 bachelors and master's degree programs in some 357 subject areas, making it the largest and most diverse university system in the United States.

Each campus in the CSU system provides its own unique experience and enrolls a diverse set of students. CSU attracts the best and brightest students the great State of California produces. These students are not only leaders inside the classroom, but they also lead in service to their communities. Annually, CSU students participate in over 32 million hours of community service, providing an economic impact of over $634 million to a multitude of California neighborhoods.

Under the current leadership of Dr. Charles Reed and the Board of Trustees, the California State University system remains dedicated to providing access to all students, regardless of financial need. I applaud this continued commitment, particularly in this time of economic turmoil. Many representatives of the CSU system are visiting with us today, including Dr. Charles Reed and Dr. Ruben Arminana, who is the president of Sonoma State University in my district. Mr. Speaker, we owe them a great deal of thanks for their amazing work and for their support of California's students.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I express my support of the California State University system. I thank Representative Lofgren for bringing this bill forward.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I'm delighted to recognize for such time as she may consume the sponsor of H. Res. 1117, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Zoe Lofgren).

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from Tennessee for his remarks. If you were educated in California, look at who you are. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to recognize for 2 minutes the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu), a member of the Education and Labor Committee.

Mr. Speaker, with that, I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 1117, which celebrates the California State University system for 50 years of service and leadership, and to thank Representative Lofgren for introducing this very meaningful piece of legislation.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize International Women's Day and to highlight the needs of mothers around the world.

Every minute somewhere in the world a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth. Most of these deaths are preventable with targeted, cost- effective interventions and increased access to maternal health care. I applaud President Obama's newly announced global health initiative and its focus on maternal health issues. These programs will make sustainable changes in the daily lives of women around the world.

Now I call on my colleagues to take the next step and fully fund the initiative and the programs that are meeting the dire needs of women in need worldwide. We owe the women of the world no less.

Mr. Speaker, there is no greater security threat in the world than the continued development and proliferation of nuclear weapons. A single nuclear strike has the power to destroy the planet and to obliterate the human race.

The headline in Sunday's New York Times read, ``White House is rethinking nuclear policy.'' Boy, did it need some rethinking.

After years of a grossly irresponsible nuclear strategy, we should all be grateful that the Obama administration seems poised on this issue to put us on a course toward peace and global security.

It appears that the President is prepared to dramatically reduce the size of the U.S. nuclear stockpile. All accounts are that there will be no development of new nuclear weapons on his watch. That includes the unnecessarily dangerous, expensive, and wasteful ``bunker buster''--the pet nuke of the previous administration. While his predecessor thumbed his nose at the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, President Obama is sincere about honoring our multilateral obligations.

Not all the news is that encouraging, however. The emerging White House strategy looks like it will include an increased reliance on missile defense systems, which have proven themselves to be a failure and a waste of taxpayer money for going on 30 years now. Most ominously, there appears to be some reluctance in the White House to adopt a ``no first use'' policy. In other words, we would not specifically rule out the possibility of a preemptive nuclear strike. This should terrify all of us, Mr. Speaker, because it takes only a single nuclear attack to unleash untold human suffering, the likes of which the world has never seen.

What possible national security objective could be served by using weapons that could wipe out civilization?

I encourage the White House to be bold in its pursuit of a world free of nuclear weapons. Specifically, I want to see the administration adopt the principles of the ``NO NUKES'' resolution that I have introduced in this Congress--``NO NUKES,'' which stands for Nonproliferation Options for Nuclear Understanding to Keep Everyone Safe.

The resolution specifically declares that the United States would not use nuclear weapons first, regarding them as a deterrent against attack until their eventual complete elimination.

The resolution also calls for more aggressive multilateral negotiations toward disarmament, greater cooperation with Russia toward dismantling Cold War nuclear warheads, a reaffirmation of the moratorium on nuclear testing, and a ban on weapons in outer space.

Nuclear nonproliferation is one of the pillars of the Smart Security approach that I have been advocating from this Chamber for years, Mr. Speaker. ``Smart Security'' means using more brains and less brawn to keep America safe. It treats war only as a last resort. It demands that we stop equating security with aggression or belligerence. It advances our security goals through humanitarian rather than military means-- more development aid, more diplomacy, more conflict resolution, and a more vigorous commitment to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons.

There can be no winners in the nuclear arms race. We cannot afford to get this one wrong. I hope our President treats this issue with the urgency and the sensitivity that it deserves. Nothing less than the life of every man, woman, and child on Earth is at stake.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Randy Poole who retired this month after serving more than 34 years in municipal water utilities, including 18 momentous years in leadership positions at the Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA). Randy served first as SCWA's Chief Engineer beginning in 1991 and then in 1994 assumed the dual role of General Manager/Chief Engineer. The Sonoma County Water Agency provides water independent of the California Water System to over 600,000 residents in Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin Counties.

Many Members of this House would recognize Randy who spent many hours visiting our offices promoting the SCWA's water projects, as well as legislation for salmon preservation, wetlands restoration and renewable energy. Randy, with his slicked back hair and often dressed in black and purple was not the stereotypical water technocrat with scientific calculator in his pocket and flow charts in his briefcase. He is an individual who could manage the day to day functions of the SCWA while sculpting a big vision of its future.

Randy played an important role in garnering support for an $800 million Pacific Salmon restoration program involving the efforts of five states to restore the habitat of 16 salmonid species, including our native Russian River chinook and coho and steelhead trout. It was also Randy who spearheaded local efforts to complete a Biological Opinion on the effects of federal and local water projects on Russian River salmon and steelhead, a project that took 11 years and now must be implemented.

Under his leadership, the SCWA put biologists to work doing fish counts and measuring habitat; engineers designing wastewater irrigation systems; water efficiency experts looking at industrial water use; gardeners planting low water landscapes; wetlands experts restoring the Napa Salt Marsh; oceanographers studying ocean currents and wave energy; and energy consultants examining new pathways to clean and plentiful renewable energy.

His driving style has not come without controversy. A three year drought coupled with environmental restrictions that have constrained flows from the SCWA main reservoir, has sometimes brought the agency at odds with water contractors who have balked at reduced flows and conservation plans. When Randy began working at SCWA in 1991, one of his charges was to smooth the way for the Agency to obtain new water rights at Warm Springs Dam. Randy, however, recognized the

new realities of expensive water projects and their environmental problems, and put the project on a back burner with a while emphasizing water conservation.

The Biological Opinion has also been criticized by downriver communities concerned about proposed lower summer flows and effects on the seal population at the mouth of the Russian River. SCWA has promised further studies and expanded river monitoring to iron out difficulties. Yet if the B.O. succeeds it will be a major step in restoring the river's once thriving fishery.

Randy recognized that climate change required the agency to do something about its own energy use--the highest in the county and he set SCWA on a zero carbon project, which will make it totally reliant on renewable energy by 2015. The Agency has kicked off the project with the installation of a 1 MGW solar system at its offices.

Randy was also instrumental in devising the nationally recognized Energy Independence Program, where home owners can weatherize their homes and install energy saving devices and solar panels at no upfront costs. Always thinking big, Randy has taken his energy ideas nationwide, forming a coalition of like-minded communities and promoting bills for local model projects and to lower consumer costs for home energy conservation and conversions to renewable energy.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank Randy Poole for his years of service to the customers of the Sonoma County Water Agency. I have been occasionally caught off balance by his whirlwind personality and grand approach to finding solutions, but I will miss his clear vision of the necessity of change in a changing world.

Thank you, Congressman Conyers, for your great leadership.

Mr. Speaker, can you imagine the health care industry being exempt from the McCarran-Ferguson antitrust rules right now, particularly after Anthem raised their rates 39 percent a couple of weeks ago when their parent company had just announced that they had had--I believe it was 2.9--around a $2 billion profit last quarter, and when one of their subsidiaries has to raise their rates 39 to 40 percent?

H.R. 4626 will lift the antitrust exemptions that health insurance companies have enjoyed for far too long. It will protect us from the Anthems of the world. These exemptions have given the companies a near monopoly control of health insurance markets--preventing meaningful competition, competition that would bring down the cost of premiums and competition that would make health care affordable for all Americans, which we know is not right now. Through the lifting of the insurance companies' antitrust exemptions and through the creation of an exchange, we will increase competition. The insurance industry will then have to control their costs, control their premiums and control their copays because they will have competition.

Another important way to increase competition is to give the American people a choice, a choice of a public health insurance option--an option that will compete with private health insurance companies and will bring down the costs of premiums and the costs of coverage.

The CBO, the Congressional Budget Office, has stated that a public option would save at least $25 billion if we included that right now in our health care bill. That $25 billion could be used for subsidies to ensure the affordability of all health insurance plans.

Mr. Speaker, the United States is reaching a bleak milestone in Afghanistan. The death toll for our troops is now 996, or it was when this paper was written. It is inevitable that we will reach the 1,000 mark. How much further are we going to go in this?

Under these circumstances the American people have the right to demand that the Afghan Government do everything it can to stop violent extremism in their country and to keep our troops safe. So far the Afghan Government has not lived up to its responsibilities.

Our Ambassador in Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, wrote a cable to the State Department in November in which he said that President Karzai ``is not an adequate strategic partner'' and ``continues to shun responsibility for any sovereign burden, whether defense, governance, or development.'' He also wrote that when it comes to corruption, Karzai has a record of ``inaction and grudging compliance.''

This is outrageous, Mr. Speaker, because this government corruption undermines our very efforts in Afghanistan and puts our troops at risk.

When the Afghan people see the corruption in their government, they ask, and they should ask, Why should we help the Americans defeat the Taliban when our government isn't any better than the Taliban?

The Washington Post just recently, well, yesterday, I think, revealed a deplorable example of the Afghan Government's shady dealings. It was Monday that the article came out. It was written by Andrew Higgins and entitled ``Kabul Bank's Sherkhan Farnood Feeds Crony Capitalism in Afghanistan.'' The article described the cozy relationship between the Afghan political elite and the Kabul Bank. The Afghan Government has poured tens of millions of dollars of public money into that bank. At the same time, the bank has made shady multimillion dollar loans to members of President Karzai's family, his government, and his supporters to buy luxury villas in Dubai. The article calls this ``a crony capitalism that enriches politically connected insiders and dismays the Afghan people.''

President Karzai's older brother and his former Vice President both have Dubai villas, but they're registered under the name of Sherkhan Farnood, the chairman of the bank. Presumably this is done to hide the goodies that the political big shots have gotten. The bank has plenty of money, including more than $1 billion in deposits from Afghans. But ``the vast majority of this money flows into the hands of a tiny minority, some of it through kickbacks and insider deals''--that's from the article--for the country's political, security, and business elites.

The bank also helped pay for President Karzai's recent reelection campaign, which was filled with charges of fraud. The bank's support for Karzai wasn't surprising. Why should it be? The bank is partly owned by Karzai's older brother and the brother of his vice presidential running mate.

And at a time when most Afghans are desperately poor, the Kabul Bank is spending $30 million to build a fancy new headquarters.

Mr. Speaker, the American people have a right to ask, Is this what our soldiers are dying for? Is this what we're spending tens of billions of our tax dollars for? So that well-connected elites in Afghanistan can enjoy luxury villas in Dubai?

We cannot allow this to continue. I have been demanding that we change our mission in Afghanistan to focus on SMART Security for a long time now. One of the cornerstones of SMART Security is an emphasis on better governance. Improving governance in Afghanistan is just as important, Mr. Speaker, as any military operation. Actually, it's more important.

That's why President Obama must insist that President Karzai and his cronies clean up their act and do it quickly. Without honest government, we will never defeat violent extremism in Afghanistan and the death toll for our troops will not stop.

Madam Speaker, I rise with pleasure today to honor Doris Bailey Murphy of Occidental, CA, who marks her 100th birthday on March 11, 2010.

Doris, who lives in her mountain-top home surrounded by redwood trees and rhododendron bushes, was born in Portland, Oregon on March 11, 1910. At 100 she retains the spirit of adventure and independence she first demonstrated when she hitchhiked from Oregon to Arizona as a teenager.

She was married for four decades to San Francisco labor organizer Joe Murphy, head of Hod Carriers Local 36 and organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World. She wrote about their life in a memoir ``Love and Labor.'' Published by Doris when she was 96, her book is peppered with smoke-filled rooms, night clubs and political drama, covering a rough and tumble time in California labor history and the colorful years in San Francisco during World War II and concluding in the coastal mountains of Sonoma County where she and Joe made their home for more than half a century.

Doris graduated from Reed College in 1938 with a psychology-sociology degree, followed by a graduate degree in social work from the University of California, Berkeley in 1956.

In San Francisco she was a welfare worker with the Traveler's Aid Society during the Depression and then with the Red Cross after World War II helping veterans, their families and other refugees of the era.

In Sonoma County she helped create the Sonoma County Council for Community Services which spawned various agencies concentrating on families and children. She worked as a therapist until she was age 90, explaining, ``It was satisfying so why would I quit?''

In her adopted community of Occidental, where she has lived for more than 50 years, she has been a vital community leader, helping to establish a senior lunch and rides program, a community health center, and the Occidental Community Council.

In recent years she has been a tireless champion and leader of efforts to create a home for the growing arts community in western Sonoma County and will celebrate her 100th birthday at the newly opened Occidental Center for the Arts.

A formidable woman with a keen wit, zest for politics and a passion for dogs, horses, the arts and social justice, Doris opens her house regularly for community meetings and social gatherings. She has continued to host the annual Labor Day picnic begun by her and her late husband. Last year she helped launch a writing workshop in her living room.

Doris is a woman who likes California white wine but prefers a good scotch. When her house isn't filled with friends and admirers, you can find her throwing logs into her stone fireplace to settle in with the evening news, her dog Matilda and her cat, Rebel.

Madam Speaker, here's to Doris Murphy and her 100 years of community leadership and good living. In the words of her friend Bob Klose, she's a pretty classy dame!

Madam Speaker, I thank Madam Castor for her good leadership.

It is our job as adults to help children make the right decisions about everything, particularly about eating healthy and nutritious foods, because what they eat has a powerful impact on how they learn, how they grow, and how they thrive.

Children who have nutritious meals at home and in schools are more likely to get the most out of their education and to stay on a path toward a healthy lifestyle. We here in this Congress, we as adults, we as parents and grandparents have a responsibility to support good nutrition for all children, for teenagers, for adults, which is why I am proud to rise today as a cosponsor of H. Res. 274, which expresses strong support for designating March as National Nutrition Month.

Today, 23 million children and adolescents are obese or overweight. Obesity rates for children between 6 and 11 years old have more than quadrupled over the last 40 years. Throughout

their lives, these children are at a much greater risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, cancer, and social and psychological problems. Enabling children to make healthy choices is a smart down payment on supporting healthy future generations.

I commend the President, and I commend the First Lady and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack for continuing to champion a strong investment in our children's nutrition programs and working with me to ensure that the only foods in schools will be healthy foods based on current nutrition science, and that only healthy foods are sold in the schools throughout the day.

Madam Speaker, it is time to update our nutrition standards for food sold in vending machines----

Because those standards haven't changed for the last 30 years, standards for a la carte lines for school snacks and for outside vending machines.

All of this has to do with meeting obesity head on.

Recognizing the month of March as National Nutrition Month will shine a light on the problems of obesity and poor nutrition in this country. So I thank my colleague, Congresswoman Castor, for introducing this important resolution, and I urge my colleagues to join me in passing it today.

Madam Speaker, I rise with sadness today to honor my dear friend, Mary Ruthsdotter, who passed away January 8, 2010, at the age of 65. Mary was a sparkling personality and a community leader, friend to many, devoted family woman, and a prominent activist for women's issues. As one of four women who founded the National Women's History Project, NWHP, in 1980 in Santa Rosa, California, she profoundly influenced the Nation's understanding of women's roles in our lives.

Born in Iowa in 1944 to a military family, Mary traveled widely while growing up. She attended UCLA and, while living in Los Angeles, married Dave Crawford. The couple moved to Sonoma County in 1977. Later, as the spirit of feminism informed her life, Mary changed her last name from Crawford to Ruthsdotter in honor of her mother Ruth.

With a strong mother and grandmother as role models, Mary was always a feminist. The move to Sonoma County turned her into an activist. She learned about women's history from Molly MacGregor, Bette Morgan, and Paula Hammett, future co-founders with her of the NWHP. She also heeded the call from the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women for volunteers and eventually became its Chair.

The founding of the NWHP, a national clearinghouse and curriculum development center, was the realization of a dream to promote and celebrate the diverse accomplishments of women. As Mary explained it, ``Not knowing women's history and trying to understand the world is like not knowing odd numbers and trying to figure out math.''

She served as a researcher and writer and traveled around the country making presentations, training teachers, and lobbying for the inclusion of women's accomplishments in the nation's history. She established a nationwide network to provide resource materials to schools; co- produced a video series, Women in American Life, as well as the first video documenting the role of Latino women, Adelante, Mujeres; and coordinated reviews for thousands of books on women in history submitted by publishers across the Nation. She donated these selections to Sonoma State University.

Thanks to the NWHP, March is now recognized as National Women's History Month. Mary, of course, was on the front lines spearheading the movement for National Women's History Week which became the full month of recognition in 1987. That is one reason I nominated her for the Women's History Month 2007 list of prominent women, a fitting tribute. She received the award at a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC.

Mary's community involvement included a stint as a field representative for former State Assemblymember Patricia Wiggins. Ten years ago, she and Dave were leaders in organizing a co-housing community, the Two Acre Wood, in Sebastopol, California, where they lived with people from varied backgrounds, ages, and perspectives. Mary enjoyed this extended family and working in the garden on the property.

A portrayal Alice wrote of her mother a few years ago truly sums up Mary's remarkable personality. While visiting at Alice's home in Australia, Mary was entranced by the description of a woman as a ``truly remarkable rare bird.'' This phrase fits Mary well, Alice says, because ``there is so much about my mother that is remarkable and rare. In my mind, the mixture of exuberance and STICK TO-IT-iveness that she brings to her work in the garden has become a kind of shorthand for what I so admire in her approach to life. My mother is always cultivating something--in fact, she is constantly cultivating many things at once. With an abundance of creative energy, she starts more projects in a day than many of us do in a month, and--even more impressively--she has the patience and the persistence to see the majority of them through.''

Alice describes how Mary brought the imaginative vision, inspiration, and verve of her gardening to everything she did, from the Women's History Project, to nurturing her relationship with Dave, throwing pots, cooking feasts, filling a neighborhood with trees, and ``raising a happy and appreciative daughter who turned out to be a real, live feminist herself.''

In addition to Dave and Alice, Mary is survived by her mother Ruth Moyer, son-in-law Geoff, and two grandchildren, Marcus and Ian.

Madam Speaker, Mary Ruthsdotter also looked forward to what women can accomplish. In her life she exemplified her own description of the path women's lives will take: ``Holding prominent public offices and winning Olympic downhill ski medals may be new to women, but not because those possibilities had held no interest for them in the past. As social conventions change and women are allowed to do even more with our lives, we will.'' Here's to Mary--a truly remarkable rare bird.

Madam Speaker, on February 3, 2010, I was unavoidably detained and was unable to record my vote for rollcall No. 34. Had I been present, I would have voted:

Rollcall No. 34: Yes--Hastings of Florida Amendment.

Madam Speaker, tomorrow is the 17th anniversary of the enactment of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). This landmark legislation, signed by President Clinton, established for the first time a minimum labor protection to help families balance their work and family lives. Under the law today, covered workers are entitled to up to twelve weeks of job-protected unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child, or to care for themselves or for a seriously ill family member.

Recently, legislation authored by Senator Christopher Dodd and myself to provide FMLA for military families has been signed into law. These are the only changes to the FMLA in its history, but as a result covered workers are entitled to up to twenty-six weeks of unpaid leave to care for seriously injured or ill family members in the armed services. In addition, workers are also entitled to up to twelve weeks of leave for matters relating to the deployment of a family member. And in 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law provisions Senator Dodd and I had introduced in this Congress entitling family members of wounded or ill veterans the same twenty-six weeks of leave accorded active servicemembers.

More than hundred million job-protected leaves have been taken as a result of the

FMLA. However, only a small percentage of those workers entitled to the leave actually utilize it, and the number one reason why is that it is unpaid.

We lag far behind other countries in providing ``family friendly'' policies, such as paid leave, to our workers. That's why in successive Congresses I have introduced H.R. 3047, The Balancing Act, which establishes a host of supports families need to balance their work and family lives.

President Obama recognizes the need for ``family-friendly'' supports, and I was also pleased to learn that his budget for Fiscal Year 2011 proposes $50 million for a State Paid Leave Fund that will provide competitive grants to help states launch paid-leave programs. In May 2009, I introduced H.R. 2339, the Family Income to Respond to Significant Transitions (FIRST) Act, which provides $1.5 billion to states to start or improve paid-leave programs

On this anniversary of the FMLA, it's good to reflect on how far we have come. But with half of women in the workplace, we need to move forward and enact legislation that provides paid leave and other supports to working families.

Madam Speaker, I rise with sadness today to honor Richard Clarey of Petaluma, California, who passed away January 19, 2010 at the age of 78. Rich was very involved with his family, his work, his union, and his community, especially its children.

Born and raised in rural Iowa, Rich enlisted during the Korean Conflict and was stationed with the U.S. Army at Ft. Hood, Texas. After moving to California, he began training as an electrician in 1957. Twenty years later he was elected business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 551 where he fought to improve the lives of working families, advocating for fair treatment, good wages, retirement benefits, and health care. Upon his retirement in 1996, IBEW Local 551 had over 600 members in six counties.

Rich was involved with his church and other civic organizations, including serving a stint on the Cotati school board to ensure that the local kids would get the best possible education. But he is probably best known to a generation as a Little League coach. For 25 years he made sure his young charges played their best and had a good time doing it. He also coached CYO basketball and cheered his own children and grandchildren at various sporting events.

Rich had a wide circle of friends who appreciated his friendly manner, strong character, and Irish story telling. In recent years, he took pleasure in the spirited discussions at Friday morning coffee socials. He particularly enjoyed spending time with his large family and working on his 10-acre farm in Petaluma where he used both his skills as a craftsman and his background as an Iowa farmer.

Rich's first wife Shirley predeceased him in 1987. He is survived by his wife Jean, sons Mitch, Mark, and David; daughters Cyndi, Sue, Bobbi, and Edie; 21 grandchildren; and five great grandchildren.

Madam Speaker, Richard Clarey exemplified what is best in our local communities. He truly cared about people and pitched in where he could to make their lives better. He touched his family, his colleagues, and his many friends. I will miss him, and I am proud to have known him.

Mr. Speaker, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a new ``Women's Action Plan'' for Afghanistan last week. I want to praise Secretary Clinton for this critically important initiative because I believe that improving women's rights is one of the important keys to peace in Afghanistan and in many other parts of the world as well.

The action plan includes the following initiatives: improved security for women in Afghanistan; provide girls and women with better education; expand women's access to judicial institutions; improve women's health care; expand economic development opportunities for women; and increase women's participation in the political process in every level of government.

Mr. Speaker, there is a great need for those initiatives because women's rights have been ignored or destroyed in Afghanistan for many years, especially under Taliban rule. In Afghanistan, the lives of girls and women are at risk every single day because many laws actually don't exist to protect women, and there are many laws that actually discriminate against women. It's also important to remember that the health care is so poor in Afghanistan that it has the second highest mortality rate in the world. Hundreds of girls' schools in Afghanistan have also been destroyed by extremists. The list, Mr. Speaker, goes on and on.

But in the United States, we can help. We can help improve the lives of women in Afghanistan. If we do this, it would be a devastating defeat for the violent extremists in that country and a great victory for progress in Afghanistan.

As a State Department official said last week, ``Progress is not possible if half a country's population is left behind. Afghan women must not be viewed simply as victims who need to be sheltered. They must be respected and valued as leaders--a reserve of talent that Afghan society needs to draw upon in order to prosper and succeed.''

Mr. Speaker, I want to mention just one particular example of how women can help Afghanistan to prosper because when women are allowed to work, they invest up to 90 percent of their earnings in their family and communities. That's twice the rate of men. And it has a powerful multiplier effect.

So, Mr. Speaker, improving the status of women has been a central part of this SMART security platform which I have been urging for Afghanistan. I am convinced that SMART security would do far more to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people than military action. That's why I have opposed President Obama's plan to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. We don't need more troops. We need a new strategy.

This new strategy must focus on economic development, humanitarian aid, better education and health care, and human rights. We must encourage and we must help the Afghan people to build a better future and show that we, the United States, are on their side. Certainly women's rights must be at the heart of this new strategy. In fact, advancing women's rights might be the most effective anti-terrorist strategy we can have in Afghanistan.

So let's support Secretary Clinton's ideas, suggestions, by empowering the women of Afghanistan. It will help keep them safe and it certainly will keep us safer.