Floor Statements

I thank the gentleman and I want to thank Congressman Emanuel and Congressman Ehlers for bringing this resolution to the floor.

Ten days ago, Michael Hawthorne of the Chicago Tribune broke the story that British Petroleum planned to increase its dumping into the source of our drinking water, Lake Michigan. It was a stunning mistake. BP, a pretend friend of the environment, should have not done this.

Tony Hayward, BP's chief, claims he is ``Beyond Petroleum'' when he plans to actually become a ``Bad Polluter.''

Governor Daniels of Indiana also made a big mistake. His State EPA failed in their duty to protect the public and authorized the first new dumping in the lake in a decade. Now 19 Republicans and Democrats joined with Congressman Lipinski and me calling on the U.S. EPA to pull this permit; and 2,700 of my constituents signed the petition condemning BP's plan to increase its dumping in the lake.

Congressman Lipinski and I authored bipartisan legislation moving us to a time in which all dumping in the Great Lakes ends. Twenty-four billion gallons of raw sewage are dumped into the lake each year, and 12 billion gallons of raw sewage are dumped in the Great Lakes by the city of Detroit alone. But that is current dumping which should definitely end. We cannot allow new dumping by BP.

Later today we will meet with the head of BP North America, and given the legislative tsunami we are preparing, we should simply be discussing BP's terms of surrender on their lake-dumping plan. BP, millions spent in the ``Beyond Petroleum'' campaign, but we know it stands for ``Bad Polluter.'' Hopefully, BP will back down and be a better partner in protecting Lake Michigan.

Mr. Speaker, the Great Lakes are the source of our drinking water for 30 million Americans, and the Congress has enacted new laws to protect the Great Lakes ecosystem, including the Great Lakes Legacy Act and the Regional Collaboration.

This is why we were surprised, no, stunned, when British Petroleum applied for the rights to increase its pollution of Lake Michigan. A 35-percent increase in ammonia dumping, a 54-percent increase in the dumping of suspended solids.

BP is one of the most profitable companies on Earth. Their plans include a $3 billion upgrade to the facility, but they presented excuses from their own paid consultant that they had to increase their pollution of the lake.

Now, tomorrow the Congress will take up a resolution condemning BP and the actions of the State of Indiana that approved this pollution.

BP is a company spending millions to brand itself as a friend of the environment, but we know what BP stands for, ``Bad Polluter.''

Madam Speaker, for the last 2 years, I've worked to kill funding for the bridges to nowhere, one connecting Alaska to an island with 50 people and the other to an island with just 22. These federally funded structures would be almost as long as the Golden Gate Bridge, and would be taller than the Brooklyn Bridge. Never in the history of the Congress has so much money been spent for so few.

Now, last year the House Appropriations Committee backed my amendment and put this House on record against funding the bridges to nowhere. We also completely deleted the Federal earmark that required spending on these projects, and that was the right decision.

The Federal Government spends too much, and higher spending leads to higher taxes, higher taxes to a smaller economy and fewer jobs, and we should not follow that road. But that is the direction that the Bridge to Nowhere leads.

This year was different. A new party and a new leader promised change here in Washington. Amazingly, under the Republicans, this House came out against funding the Bridge to Nowhere. But under the Democrats, the Appropriations Committee now voted to block an amendment cutting off funding for the bridges.

Under this Congress, leaders promised to kill pensions for Members of Congress convicted of a felony, but after 7 months, no such reform has been enacted.

And now, under this Congress, many Members promised back home to kill the bridges to nowhere, but under this bill, they will be funded, and funded for years to come because these bridges will take at least $400 million to build the structures. And one of the bridges is already $37 million over budget, a number that will likely rise.

Madam Speaker, my amendment to kill the funding for the bridges to nowhere is technically out of order because, according to our Parliamentarian, he says it violates clause 3 of rule XXI because it would trigger Alaska losing funding guaranteed by the previously enacted transportation bill.

The Appropriations Committee, my committee, is at its best when it decides to appropriate taxpayer money and also when it decides not to appropriate taxpayer money.

Amazingly, it is not in order to offer an amendment to this appropriations bill to deny appropriations. Our rules do not make sense, of course, unless you support the Bridge to Nowhere or like government spending.

We will be at this again next year, and we'll look closely at the cost overruns already with the bridges to nowhere and their burden on American taxpayers. But today, a simple amendment to block funding for the bridges to nowhere, an amendment that would be overwhelmingly approved if offered, cannot be offered because a point of order would be leveled against it.

Americans should know that, despite promises to reform this House under new leaders, the new leaders of this House has flipped the House of Representatives from being anti-Bridge to Nowhere to now being for the waste of taxpayers' money.

Madam Speaker, last month, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and toy company RC2 announced a recall of 1.5 million various Thomas & Friends wooden railway toys because they might contain dangerous amounts of lead.

Lead poisoning causes vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions, anemia, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, irritability, fatigue, constipation, difficulty sleeping, headaches and coma. It can even be fatal.

The toys on recall are made in China and are retailed throughout the United States.

In March, a wave of pet deaths revealed toxic chemicals in Chinese- manufactured pet food. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigated and nearly 100 brands of pet food made with the ingredient were ordered recalled.

A few weeks ago, consumers were advised to discard all toothpaste made in China after federal health officials found toothpaste containing a poison used in antifreeze.

Then it was Thomas the Tank Engine. Just about every family with young kids in America knows Thomas the Tank Engine well.

On Tuesday, about 40 tubes of potentially toxic toothpaste fraudulently labeled Colgate ``Triple Action'' were pulled from the shelf of a discount store in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Congress needs to send a clear notice to importers that goods which threaten the safety of kids will be left to rot on America's docks.

That is why I am introducing H.R. 3100, the bipartisan Import Safety Act of 2007, to increase penalties for willful violators of federal regulations on imported goods and increase our commitment to overseas inspections by the FDA and the Commission. This will increase the ability of the U.S. Government to halt the importation of pet food, toothpaste or children's goods that could present a danger to Americans.

Mr. Chairman, I just think that putting our constituents first is what this place should be all about, and putting our country first.

The gentleman from New York is a distinguished combat veteran, with 38 years service in this House. But we have seen people leave this House to great glory, and to even be elected President or ambassador, captains of industry. And other of our colleagues have gone straight from this Chamber to jail. And the decision is best made by history. The collective wisdom of our rules is that, in general, we don't name things after ourselves when we are great and powerful, but no independent judgment could be leveled.

I support this project. I think this project is a good one. But I would just ask would the gentleman entertain a unanimous consent request simply to remove his name to advance this project, but to delete the current ego from this?

I yield to the gentleman from New York.

Reclaiming my time, the gentleman is a very powerful chairman. If he supports this project, they will come. But I worry about setting the precedent of everyone else naming things after themselves.

Madam Chairman, I thank my colleague from Illinois for yielding.

I rise in opposition to this amendment because he is exactly right. A detailed review of the Shedd Aquarium shows that it has now become the center for Great Lakes advocacy. We are in the middle of a battle to stop the increase in ammonia and wastewater dumping by British Petroleum, the first new polluter in Lake Michigan. The Shedd is the fort with which we advocate for this protection of the crown jewel of the Midwest ecosystem, and I think this is an essential way to

go forward to make sure that we protect the drinking water for over 30 million Americans.

Mr. Speaker, despite promises that are only 6 months old, the cause of cleaning up the Congress has ground to a halt.

We should kill pensions for Members of Congress convicted of a felony. And after passing a shadow bill in January, this action has completely stalled. No action in February, March, April, May or June.

Now the real surprise. Despite promises of spending reform, Congressional leaders blocked efforts to stop funding the construction of the bridges to nowhere. That's right. Democratic leaders in Congress now support building the bridges to nowhere, one structure, connecting to an island with just 50 people, the other to an island with only 22, at a cost to the U.S. taxpayer of over $1 billion. Only 6 months into a new Congress, and now Congressional leaders do not want to kill pensions for Congressional felons, but do want to build the bridges to nowhere.

Madam Speaker, today I am pleased to join with Congressman Lipinski to introduce the Great Lakes Water Protection Act. This bipartisan legislation, supported by the Alliance for the Great Lakes, National Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Foundation, National Parks Conservation Association, Great Lakes Aquatic Network, Audubon Society and more, would set a date certain to end sewage dumping in America's largest supply of fresh water, the Great Lakes. More than forty million Americans depend on the Great Lakes for their drinking water, food, jobs, and recreation. We need to put a stop to the poisoning of our water supply. Cities along the Great Lakes must become environmental stewards of our country's most precious freshwater ecosystem.

The Great Lakes Water Protection Act gives cities until 2027 to build the full infrastructure needed to prevent sewage dumping into the Great Lakes. Those who violate EPA sewage dumping regulations after that federal deadline will be subject to fines up to $100,000 for every day they are in violation. These fines will be directed to a newly established Great Lakes Clean-Up Fund within the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. Penalties collected would go into this fund and be reallocated to the states surrounding the Great Lakes. From there, the funds will be spent on wastewater treatment options, with a special focus on greener solutions such as habitat protection and wetland restoration.

This legislation is sorely needed. Many major cities along the Great Lakes do not have the infrastructure needed to divert sewage overflows during times of heavy rainfall. More than twenty-four billion gallons of sewage are dumped into the Lakes each year; Detroit alone dumped over thirteen billion gallons of sewage into Lake Huron in 2005.

These disastrous practices result in thousands of annual beach closings for the region's 815 freshwater beaches. Cook County beach closings nearly tripled from 213 in 2003 to 613 in 2004. According to the National Resources Defense Council, in a 92-day period from June 1 to August 31 in 2005, there were 87 days of beach closings in my District alone. This trend is echoed throughout the Great Lakes region and is one we need to reverse.

Protecting our Great Lakes is one of my top priorities in the Congress. As an original cosponsor of the Great Lakes Restoration Act, I favor a broad approach to addressing needs in the region. However, we must also move forward with tailored approaches to fix specific problems as we continue to push for more comprehensive reform. I am proud to introduce this important legislation that addresses a key problem facing our Great Lakes, and hope my colleagues will support me in ensuring that these important resources become free from the threat of sewage pollution.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the 10th Congressional District of Illinois School Conservation Corps Act of 2007, a bill crafted by America's future leaders. I believe it is critical to engage younger generations in our civic process in order to help them begin to build a better tomorrow.

Earlier this year, I invited students from all across my district to participate in a Model Congress. The best and brightest high school students from around northeast Illinois turned out to spend a weekend listening to expert testimony, debating policy, and passing legislation on climate change and environmental conservation.

One of the bills the students considered establishes a pilot program in the 10th District of Illinois for the Secretary of Education to launch and support a School Conservation Corps. Any group of 10 students and an advisor may form a chapter of the Corps to receive grants to participate in various environmental protection and restoration activities. Assuming the roles of actual Members of Congress, the students debated many provisions of the bill, including the types of activities that shall be performed, the amount of initial and matching grants that may be made available, and the parameters of the program's evaluation and expansion.

I am proud to announce that with minor drafting changes, the bill I rise to introduce today is the same bill passed by the talented students of the 10th District on April 22, 2007. I want to recognize Lauren Blake and Will McGauran who played the majority and minority leaders of this Model Congress. These students, who will both be seniors at New Trier High School next fall, worked hard to build partnerships and find compromises to pass the legislation before them.

The complete Model Congress comprised of the following students, who each played a critical role in the proceedings: Edward Alvarez, Charles Arnowitz, Frank Austin, Carolyn Barnett, Andrew Barr, Steven Blumental, Josh Brown, Emily Buehler, Melissa Burns, Arvin Canda, Lauren Cannizzaro, Douglas Carr, Amy Cleveland, Angelica Cleveland, Simone Coburn, Bruce Codell, Jordan Cohen, Elyse Conklin, Dan Cowin, Semeka Cunningham, Joseph Delvin, Peter Drogos Phyall, Ellen Eichner, Gustavo Esquivel, Maria Estrada, Teresa Fabila, Brad Fink, Kevin Finkle, Sherrie Fortson, Stephanie Fortson, Rebecca Fowler, Rachel Fybel, Roberto Garcia, Ana Gaytan, Aaron Goldstein, Alex Gordon, A. William

Greene, Jake Grubman, Ray Gu, Robbie Gustafson, Patrick Hamann, Ryan Hamilton, Jacob Hanson, Brad Heinz, Adam Herbert, Jordan Heyman, David Isaacson, Joshua Jackson, Rachel Jackson, Lauren Jensen, Ari Kasper, Ruth Kee, Courtney Kennedy, Jacob Klein, Julia Kohn, Noah Kraff, Noam Kupfer, Geno Kurolapnak, Jake Lapping, Alex Lazakis, Austin Lin, Tyler Litke, Thomas Lovinger, John Maigler, Lauren McCall, Michael McCall, Monte Monaco, Neal Muller, Brooke-Lynn Navarro, Ariel Olswanger, Lauren Olswanger, Aaron Parker, Ami Pekaj, Stacey Podovik, Kiran Pookote, Jonathan Prohov, John Reid Sidebotham, David Reiss, Nils Robbins, Ben Rose, Ari Ruffer, Maya Samuel, Matt Schuelke, Ayal Sharvit, Samara Silverman, Matt Skalski, Matthew Sloan, Sarah Smith, Karolina Strack, Ilana Strauss, Kathryn Swanson, Gideon Sylvan, Steve Tapas, Lindsey Taylor, Anne Tomsky, Sam Travers, Roxanne Tully, Maddi Vering, Robert Wald, Rachel Weiss, Lauren Whalley, John Yang, Gale Young, Dominique Young, Jonathan Youshaei, John Zender, and Michael Zucker.

Members of the United States Congress should take cues from all these students on how to work in a more bipartisan manner to accomplish the most pressing issues that face Americans. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and invest in tomorrow's leaders.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Barbara Whitney Carr, the president and CEO of the Chicago Botanic Garden for over a decade.

Barbara Carr presides over one of America's preeminent public gardens located in Glencoe, Illinois. For over a century, the Chicago Botanic Garden has been a sanctuary for over 2.2 million plants, including over 8,000 unique species. The 23 unique gardens spread over 385 acres include horticultural displays, natural habitats, and lakes that attract more than 750,000 visitors annually. By embracing its mission to promote the enjoyment, understanding, and conservation of plants and the natural world, the Garden has become one of the finest botanic displays in the country and one of the 10th District's most stunning features.

Barbara led a 10-year master plan for the garden and launched a capital campaign that saw 15,000 donors contribute a total of $148 million. This drive led to construction and renovation of eight new gardens and the restoration of nearly 6 miles of shoreline. She also oversaw completion of the Botanic Garden Center, Children's Learning Center and the renovation of the 100,000-square foot Regenstein Center.

Thanks to Barbara's leadership, the garden is now partnered with some of the leading academic institutions in Illinois. She created an academic affairs program that now offers a master of science in plant biology and conservation, a master of landscape architecture and a bachelor's degree in horticulture. Barbara spearheaded the effort to develop a partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England, to preserve endangered prairie plant species and has launched a major science initiative including collaboration with leading organizations.

Madam Speaker, Barbara Whitney Carr is a remarkable woman whose dedication helped to make the Chicago Botanic Garden one of the finest institutions in the country and an essential place of tourism, education, and beauty within the 10th District. I wish her all the best in her retirement and thank her for her years of service.

Last night Iranian citizens burned gas stations in Iran, protesting President Ahmadinejad's gasoline rationing plan. Yes, Iran is running out of gasoline. Despite being a leading OPEC oil producer, Iran is heavily dependent on gasoline from abroad. This is the key weakness of Iran.

The Iranian government has promised to attack Israel. It is the chief funder of Hezbollah and Hamas. It threw U.N. inspectors out, and says that it is enriching uranium.

Last night Congressman Rob Andrews and I introduced bipartisan legislation, H.R. 2880, calling for more gasoline restrictions on Iran. After last night's gasoline riots, a policy of the U.S., working with our allies, could become the diplomatic key to bring pressure on Iran to stop funding terror and building nuclear weapons.

Running out of gasoline. This is a danger for Iran's rulers and an opportunity for our diplomats.

Mr. Chairman, I thank Mr. Pence for bringing this amendment and I support it. I do not think that we should spend taxpayer dollars to resurrect the 1929 doctrine, which was imposed by the old Federal Radio Commission.

Several Senators now say they don't like free speech on radio and TV, and they are looking to exhume the body of a 1920s-era radio regulation because they do not want Americans to hear. This 1920s radio regulation, appropriately called a ``doctrine,'' was put into law by President Herbert Hoover. Remember, during that time, Western powers also signed a Kellogg pact that outlawed war, Alaska and Hawaii were not States, Mickey Mouse got his first cartoon, and Joseph Stalin became the unquestioned ruler of the Soviet Union.

This 1929 radio regulation that these Senators want to dig up was written when there was no TV, no cable, no Internet, not to mention no satellite or MySpace or YouTube. As kids today would say, this doctrine is so 20th century, and it should not be part of our 21st century.

Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Madam Chairman, I rise today just to support this legislation which increases funds, provides programs that protect our national forests and parks and enhance our clean water infrastructure. The bill also provides more than $1.3 billion for Great Lakes restoration and protection programs and an increase of $32 million over fiscal year 2007.

Providing water, jobs, food and recreation for more than 40 million people, the Great Lakes are one of our Nation's most valuable natural habitats. It is critical that we continue to support programs and provide funds that ensure the restoration and preservation of this National treasure.

Now, in this bill we fund the Great Lakes Legacy Act, which is a critical component of this ecosystems restoration. It provides funds for the cleanup of the most polluted sites in the region. There are 26 of these sites designated

officially as areas of concern located wholly within the United States and then five more inside Canada. From six of the projects that we receive funding since the program's inception, the EPA estimates that over 1.2 million cubic yards of contaminated sediments will be removed.

Madam Chairman, I really want to thank Chairman Dicks and ranking member Tiahrt for working with me to increase funds above the President's request to provide $37 million for this program, which is an increase of over $7 million last year.

I also want to thank these gentlemen for providing an increase of roughly $3 million to the National Great Lakes Program Office to fund additional staff to implement the Legacy Act. The aid will help us to eliminate the backlog in reviewing proposals to speed up the cleanup of polluted sites.

Madam Chairman, I just want to thank the two gentlemen. I am in favor of this legislation.

Madam Chairman, reclaiming my time, this is a very good bill. I want to thank both these gentlemen. I want everyone who is part of the 40 million Americans that depend on the Great Lakes for their drinking water to know that this appropriations bill is pro-Great Lakes.

Mr. Chairman, I want to rise and maybe remove some of the partisan tension as a Republican Member in support of this amendment that otherwise, without action, the global gag rule would cut off critical providers of family planning assistance.

In this Congress the issue of illegal immigration is at the top of our agenda. And women in developing countries consistently report that they would like to have two to three children rather than five to seven.

As population pressures rise, so does the move to enter the United States, legally or illegally. To reduce the illegal immigration pressure on our borders, we need short-term solutions like border enforcement, and long-term solutions like backing voluntary family planning to help women in developing counties have the smaller family that they want.

The global gag rule has been used to cut off the International Planned Parenthood Federation because it used less than 1 percent of its own privately raised funds for abortion-related services. And when we cut off IPPF, we might have another provider of family planning assistance to the women of Mexico for example, like the UNFPA, but we cut them off too.

Mr. Chairman, I would argue that the American people would strongly agree with the principle that if Mexican women wanted to have fewer children, then we should help them.

Voluntary family planning would boost child survival rates. It would also lower the rate of growth of Mexico's population. A slower rate of growth of Mexico's population would improve the economy of Mexico. It would also reduce the environmental pressure on Mexico's ecosystem. But a slower rate of growth would also reduce the long-term illegal immigration pressure on America's borders.

We should adopt this bipartisan amendment. We should help women in developing countries have the smaller families that they want. We should also adopt policies which reduce the population pressure on our own borders with a policy that supports the rights of women and lowers the pressure on our environment.

I commend the Chair for offering this amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman from Indiana for yielding.

He makes a good point. I am actually for this bill coming forward, but we need to send an important signal.

The administration has said that they are going to provide direct aid to the Palestinian Authority and provide $40 million to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in Gaza. U.S. taxpayers should not be forced to finance a culture of ``welfare terrorism.''

This morning, Secretary Rice agreed to work with us in upgrading the auditing regime of UNRWA, and we hope that that will include an end to Cash Assistance payments to terrorists and martyr families, with a full independent audit of UNRWA programs outside the U.N. structure.

We have looked in the past at our errors, in the 1990s, when the U.S. poured hundreds of millions of dollars into assistance for the Yassar Arafat government and the return on taxpayer investments was very low indeed. In haste, we should not repeat our errors made just a few short fiscal years ago.