Floor Statements

I would like to thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions) for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, it would be extremely shortsighted of us to disregard how the underlying bill will increase the debt, its impact on job creation, and how it greatly misses the mark of restoring financial stability.

When Congress passed the TARP bank bailout last year, it was intended to be a 1-year emergency program, not permanent, but this administration has continued the bailouts. Even more troubling, this legislation codifies the bailout authority used by the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve, leaving taxpayers on the hook.

Who is looking out for the taxpayers? They didn't cause these problems. My constituents in Kansas and folks across the Nation have bailout fatigue. So at a time when folks are struggling to find work and make ends meet, this legislation restricts credit, increases the already record deficits, and kills jobs.

Creating jobs and restoring fiscal responsibility should be the priority in Washington; yet, all Kansans see coming out of Washington are expensive plans to grow government. That's the wrong direction. Instead, this body should end bailouts, protect consumers without restricting credit with smarter, leaner regulations, enact meaningful reform to prevent future collapse, and ensure that any repaid or remaining TARP funds be used to reduce the deficit.

I strongly urge my colleagues to oppose this underlying bill.

Mr. Speaker, in September, the World Trade Organization confirmed that the European Union doled out billions in illegal subsidies to prop up the development of large aircraft. Those subsidies forced companies here in the United States to close their doors and sent Kansans to the unemployment lines.

Rather than continuing to ignore the WTO ruling, it's time for the Department of Defense to do the right thing, to take into consideration the WTO ruling as they finalize the tanker competition. At a time when the American people are struggling, this decision has the potential to create jobs and help our Nation's economy. The Department of Defense must base its decision on a fair and level playing field.

I am proud to stand with a bipartisan, bicameral group fighting for American workers and fighting for the American tanker.

I urge all of my colleagues to join us in this fight.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition because this bill kills jobs, cuts Medicare, piles on debt, increases costs and raises taxes.

While there are many reasons why I'm opposed to Speaker Pelosi's health care bill, there is one that has been highlighted in today's headlines.

Mr. Speaker, the health care system in America needs reform, but the Pelosi plan is the wrong prescription. Unlike the Republican plan, this bill does nothing to reduce health care costs.

While there are many reasons I am opposed to this bill, the most glaring is we can't afford it. Unemployment has hit 10.2 percent, the highest level since 1983; yet Democrats are forcing through yet another job-killing bill that, according to modeling created by the President's own economic advisers, will kill an additional 5.5 million jobs.

Kansas just announced it is facing a $460 million budget shortfall; yet this

body is set to send my State another unfunded mandate estimated to cost $230 million.

And the deficit just exceeded $1.4 trillion; yet the majority wants to pass this $1.3 trillion government takeover of health care.

Let's reject this fiscally irresponsible legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I have criticized many of the provisions of this bill and rightfully so. However, I do believe the sections relating to the creation of a market for biosimilar products is one area of the bill that strikes the appropriate balance in providing lower cost options to consumers without destroying a healthy and functioning industry in this country. These provisions were one of the few areas in the bill adopted on an overwhelming bipartisan vote for the Eshoo-Inslee-Barton (EIB) amendment in the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Creating a pathway for new products that doesn't destroy the ability or the incentives for innovator companies to develop breakthrough technologies and at the same time providing a safe and effective way to bring competition to benefit patients is a laudable achievement. I wish we could remove this provision from this fatally flawed piece of legislation and consider it separately because it would pass with the kind of overwhelming bipartisan support that Americans across the country wish to see.

However, these provisions are only the first step in a long path to the marketing of these new products. New research and clinical testing will have to occur and the FDA will write rules that will ensure this research is done safely and effectively. One of the reasons I have long supported the U.S. biotechnology industry is that it is a homegrown success story that has been an engine of job creation in this country. Unfortunately, many of the largest companies that would seek to enter the biosimilar market have made their money by outsourcing their research to foreign countries like India. While the innovator's have created jobs here, these generic companies have shipped them overseas, so they can turn around and sell cheap knockoffs of innovative American products.

As this new market launches in the U.S., we need to ensure that we foster innovative products in this country for the creation of jobs and research that will go into proving whether these products are interchangeable with the innovators' products. I have my doubts that these companies can create such interchangeable products, but I am certain that the research and testing of whether or not they can should occur in this country and not somewhere across the globe. Testing and research on these interchangeable biosimilars should be occurring in this country to ensure that it is done properly and safely and to benefit our economy.

As a woman in the sandwich generation, I've spent numerous hours making health care decisions for my two teenagers, as well as two aging parents who have both suffered from cancer and other medical emergencies. From monitoring vaccines, to paying hospital and prescription costs, to reviewing insurance coverage, I understand the concerns folks have with their health care system.

That is why I am glad Republicans have solutions: solutions to provide access to care, regardless of preexisting conditions; solutions to cover the uninsured; solutions for tort reform to reduce the cost of defensive medicine.

Democrats have other ideas. The Pelosi health care plan will force folks off their current health care coverage, lead to longer waiting lines, increase premiums, higher taxes, fewer options, and will further bankrupt our Nation.

Please, let's give Americans the right kind of health care reform.

Mr. Speaker, Republicans have health care solutions, but our solutions don't involve breaking promises to America's seniors. Our solutions don't involve slashing Medicare Advantage, a program that 7,400 seniors from my district rely on day in and day out. Our solutions don't involve massive cuts to Medicare that will go far beyond reducing waste and do real harm to current programs that Kansas seniors enjoy.

One of the President's stated goals for health care reform is to increase choice and competition in health care. Rather than moving forward with a plan that will reduce choice and have harmful effects on our seniors across the Nation, it is time to sit down and have an honest discussion about how we can extend health care coverage without a government takeover and without cutting Medicare.

``This is not a war of choice. This is a war of necessity.'' But just 7 weeks after the President spoke those words, White House political advisers consider rejecting General McChrystal's assessment.

To win in Afghanistan, we must provide the general the resources he needs. Insufficient troop levels is a mistake that must not be repeated.

Servicemembers from my district from Fort Leavenworth, Fort Riley, and the Kansas National Guard are putting their lives on the line in this war of necessity. As the President decides on his strategy in Afghanistan, I remind him of his words.

Leaving our brave soldiers in Afghanistan without the resources they need is indefensible. Our duty is to avoid the mistakes of the past.

Mr. President, please listen to the generals you have placed in command.

The health care debate we're having right now is complex. It's personal. It will affect every single American. And it will affect our Nation's financial stability for years. We must get this right.

It appears the current House proposal is not what Americans are asking for. Just yesterday, a Senate committee rejected the so-called ``public option'' on a bipartisan vote.

Republicans have solutions that I believe most Americans agree on-- solutions to root out waste, fraud and abuse; solutions to provide care regardless of preexisting conditions; solutions to help families access affordable care; solutions to reduce the cost of defensive medicine; solutions to fix the system without destroying it.

This debate must be thorough and the solution bipartisan. It's time to come together and to make health care affordable.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 317, recognizing the region from Manhattan, Kansas, to Columbia, Missouri, as the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor.

From the days of cattle drives more than 150 years ago to the DHS selection of Manhattan, Kansas, as the location for the new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, Kansas and Missouri have long been leaders in the animal health and livestock industries.

More than 120 animal health companies are located in Kansas and Missouri. The work these companies do enables ranchers to raise the safest and highest quality animals in the world. Not only are the majority of health companies located here, but there are leading veterinary colleges and state-of-the-art research centers, like the Biosecurity Research Institute at K-State, in the region.

At a time when businesses are struggling to make a profit and at a time when our Nation is facing record unemployment, the animal health industry continues to grow. Fourteen animal health companies or organizations have expanded in this region since 2006. The new NBAF will provide hundreds of billions of dollars in economic development opportunities for Kansas. It will create hundreds of full-time jobs and 1,500 construction jobs. That is the kind of economic stimulus our State needs. This resolution recognizes this region as a leader in animal health, and it supports the continued growth for the animal health industry.

Again, I thank my colleagues for their support of this legislation, and I urge all of my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I claim time in opposition to the bill, although I am not opposed.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I rise today in support of H.R. 2947, the Securities Law Technical Corrections Act. This legislation, which passed the House under suspension last year, makes technical corrections to various securities laws, and I thank Mr. Kanjorski for his support on the measure.

This body passed identical legislation last year 404-0. In the aftermath of the stock market crash of 1929, Congress enacted the Federal securities laws of the 1930s and the 1940s. Over the decades since that time, Congress has amended these laws to adapt to a rapidly changing securities industry.

Congressional intent for these laws is to protect investors and maintain orderly and efficient markets. As Members of Congress, we have a responsibility to review laws from time to time to ensure that they are up-to-date so as to reduce unnecessary confusion to market participants. H.R. 2947 makes necessary technical corrections to the Federal securities laws that the Securities and Exchange Commission supports, including punctuation errors, spelling inaccuracies, and references to statutes which Congress previously repealed.

Again, I thank my colleague, Mr. Kanjorski, along with Ranking Member Bachus and Chairman Frank, for their support of this bill and I urge all of my colleagues to support it.

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

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as part of the FY2010 Defense Appropriations Bill, H.R. 3326:

Earmark: Army Command and General Staff College Leadership Training Program

Requesting Member: Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins

Bill Number: H.R. 3326

Account: OM,A

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Fort Leavenworth, KS

Address of Requesting Entity: 881 McClellan Ave., Fort Leavenworth,

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1525, whose language has been incorporated into H.R. 3139.

Agriculture is the lifeblood of the economy in Kansas' 2nd District. Doniphan County, Kansas is home to some of the most fertile farm land in the United States.

The levees along the Missouri River in Doniphan County protect three vital communities, White Cloud, Elwood and Wathena, as well as thousands of acres of farmland.

The 1993 floods devastated these communities and the surrounding farmland. And they should serve as a reminder of the importance of sound floodplain management. H.R. 1525, which I cosponsored with my colleague Representative Matsui from California, will allow communities, like the ones that I represent in Northeast Kansas, the flexibility to find sources to quickly and efficiently repair levee systems.

I thank my colleague for her leadership on this important legislation. And I encourage the House support its passage.

Mr. Speaker, this recession has forced Kansas families to change their ways. Folks are cutting back just to make ends meet. Now that's what Congress should be doing here in Washington.

But we aren't cutting back. In fact, the majority says we need a health care plan that will cost us jobs, when actually what we need is to take responsibility for our actions.

We need to rein in spending. We need to reduce the deficit. We need to stop legislation that will add hundreds of billions of dollars to the Nation's debt. We need to empower families to purchase health care that is the best fit for them, without waiting lines and without mountains and mountains of debt.

I will continue to fight for commonsense solutions. Americans deserve no less.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as part of the FY2010 Transportation/HUD,

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding earmarks I received as part of

the FY2010 Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill, FIR 3293:

Earmark: University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS for facilities and equipment

Requesting Member: Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins

Bill Number: H.R. 3293

Account: Health Resources and Services Administration (FIRSA)--Health Facilities and Services

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: University of Kansas

Address of Requesting Entity: 230 Strong Hall, Lawrence, KS 66047

Description of Request: Provide an earmark of $1,500,000 to fulfill the University's mission of being a leader in healthcare and drug development. The University of Kansas Cancer Center is transforming cancer research and care by linking our innovative approach to drug discovery, delivery and development to their nationally-accredited patient care. To ensure that their cancer advancements reach patients as close to home as possible, the University of Kansas Cancer Center collaborates with regional cancer research and care professionals through the Midwest Cancer Alliance. The University of Kansas Cancer Center plans to attract 19 new basic, translational, and clinical cancer researchers by 2011. These scholar recruits will only come to the University of Kansas Cancer Center if state-of-the-art research facilities and equipment are available on the Medical Center campus in Kansas City and the Drug Discovery campus in Lawrence. Currently, the Cancer Center plans to renovate 170,000 square feet and construct 98,200 square feet of laboratory space for cancer researchers with funding provided by other sources. Funds appropriated by Congress will be used for anticipated equipment costs.