Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) on its 40th anniversary. MORPC has been vital in assisting local governments of Central Ohio to address challenges and opportunities associated with growth and development in the region.

Solving important issues such as transportation, economic development, and energy conservation are vital to our country's success in the 21st century. Central Ohio is grateful to have a long lasting partnership with an organization that tackles these issues and works to solve problems.

The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission partners with over 40 local governments who represent all sectors of central Ohio. Each of these organizations in conjunction with MORPC seeks to improve the quality of life in central Ohio.

Just one of the many examples where MORPC has supported local governments is its work with the state's Clean Ohio Fund. MORPC is assisting the state in restoring and connecting Ohio's natural and urban places by preserving green space farmland, cleaning up brown fields, and improving recreational trails. We have already seen the effects of the Clean Ohio Fund with redevelopment and job creation in central Ohio.

I want to thank MORPC for working with the 44 local partners to ensure prosperity and growth for their communities. I would like to congratulate the leadership of MORPC including Executive Director Chester Jourdan, Chair Dean Ringle, Vice Chair Derrick Clay and Secretary Marilyn Brown.

I acknowledge this historic day with our friends at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission and celebrate our continued support for their mission. I ask that my colleagues join me in congratulating them.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to congratulate the Madison County Chamber of Commerce on the celebration of its 50th anniversary. The Chamber of Commerce has been extremely important in building and growing hundreds of businesses in Madison County. At this significant moment in time, with much volatility and uncertainty in our economy, it is important to recognize the role that local chambers of commerce play.

The Madison County Chamber of Commerce's purpose is to serve the businesses and entrepreneurs in the local community. The Chamber plays an integral role in bringing new ideas and jobs to the area while sustaining small businesses and working on their behalf. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. They have continued to employ American workers through some of the toughest times in history. These businesses stay true to their employees and do everything they can to positively impact their local community.

The Madison County Chamber of Commerce is working hard to ensure jobs stay at home in Central Ohio. Just last week the Chamber of Commerce announced nearly 15,000 jobs are available in Madison County. These competitive jobs require high levels of training; with my support and the support of the Chamber of Commerce, we are committed to providing the proper resources to equip our workforce with the tools they need to prosper in the 21st Century work environment.

Madam Speaker, I wish that our work here in Washington did not cause me to miss tonight's gathering. As the Madison County Chamber of Commerce begins its anniversary celebration, I am reminded of the importance of Main St. in our national economy and dedicate my efforts to continuing a partnership that benefits central Ohio.

I want to thank all of the businesses that contribute so much to Madison County and Central Ohio. I want to specifically acknowledge the Chamber's current leadership: Executive Director Sean Hughes, President of the Board of Directors Tim Suter, 1st Vice President Brenda Adams, 2nd Vice President Joan Denes, 3rd Vice President Pamela Peterman and Secretary-Treasurer Sarah Hankins-Miller. May the next 50 years be prosperous and successful. I ask that my colleagues join me to acknowledge and celebrate this milestone with my friends at the Madison Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Speaker, the great Winston Churchill said, ``The price of greatness is responsibility.'' AIG has shown that for them the price of greatness is greed, putting greed above greatest, putting self-interest above responsibility.

Today I rise in support of this resolution and to express the will of the American people to stop rewarding this behavior.

Let me be clear: We should focus on the behavior of AIG and those traders that were nothing more than gamblers, gambling in credit default swaps not in cards. But in the end, they gambled away the financial security of our markets. And when they failed and put the financial system at risk, the risk was pushed back onto the backs of the American people. America has had enough.

Instead of taking responsibility for the massive damage they have caused, AIG has continued this culture of greed. Today, in this resolution, we can tell these traders that business as usual is over. We don't care about their excuses and contracts. Contracts are, frankly, renegotiated every day. We care about cleaning up this mess and changing the culture that caused this debacle.

This resolution states our intent that without a voluntary decision by AIG employees to give the bonus money back, we will act to make them do so.

Today we hear that some employees have been shamed into giving back this money. Some is not good enough. All is the only option.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today regarding my amendment to the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, or the GIVE Act.

My amendment would add additional opportunities to the GIVE Act by adding the Healthy Futures Corps, by helping children and the elderly.

Mr. Chairman and Members, as a former VISTA volunteer, as a former school board member who helped bring City Year to my community, and as a former county commissioner who worked diligently on the issues of childhood obesity and hunger in our community, as well as with senior options, issues facing our homebound elderly, this amendment continues some of the issues and concerns that I have seen and recognized back in central Ohio.

As somebody who has had close involvement with AmeriCorps and City Year and with VISTA, I can assert that these are very cost-effective programs that provide vital services to our community. In this instance, today, in Ohio, more than 30 percent of our children between the ages of 10 to 17 are found to be overweight or obese.

As we know, childhood obesity leads to lifelong health consequences, including diabetes and heart disease. Our poorest children are more than twice as likely to be overweight. At a time when our schools are facing cuts, physical education classes are being cut and parents are working more than one job to keep families together, this program would allow us to step up, to help educate our children about living healthy lifestyles.

My amendment focuses volunteers towards programs that combat obesity through physical education for children, after-school activities and nutrition classes. We simply cannot continue to ignore this nationwide epidemic and also the corollary epidemics of preventable chronic diseases.

Physical education opportunities not only help to build strong bodies but help to build for these children habits for a healthy lifetime of good, healthy living. And, as I have seen this as a

member of the school board, I believe that including physical education and exercise in our children's daily lives also helps them improve their learning.

Along with our children, our elderly face challenges in obtaining access to health care and other services. Many senior citizens face restrictions on their movement, making them unable to leave their homes. It shuts them off from the world, and not only from medical care, but from social interaction, from companionship, dealing with other human beings.

Our homebound elderly struggle to get food and adequate nutrition, because they are unable to shop for groceries. It can be a lonely life and a dangerous one where a fall can mean a painful end of their life. My amendment would also allow volunteers to bring food, medical supplies, and legal counsel to these senior citizens who may never be able to access these services otherwise.

I ask for support of children and the elderly by supporting my amendment to direct volunteer services towards combating childhood obesity and providing services to the homebound elderly, to our senior citizens who we need to respect and care for in their later years.

Mr. Chairman, America is facing unprecedented challenges, and it is in these times that Americans must come together to support one another by directing our attention to those who truly need our help.

It was heartwarming to me to learn in our local newspapers that many people who have lost their jobs are devoting themselves to volunteerism, putting their talents to work.

President Obama has called on Congress to create new opportunities for Americans, to build a stronger country, stronger communities and calling for a new era of service.

This bill, the GIVE Act, is an answer to that call, a call to all Americans to help give back to their communities and to offer help to those of us in greatest need.

Again, I can testify from my experience as a VISTA volunteer and being inspired by the young people in City Year, we see people helping people, helping themselves. We see young people becoming role models for other young people, and we see these young volunteers, themselves, learning and developing their own leadership skills.

I support the GIVE Act. It helps people of all ages, from our schools and our school children to our seniors and encourages others to invest their time and passion in their communities.

I urge support of this bill, which will signal a new era of social responsibility.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to address those comments. Nobody is more outraged by the actions of AIG than myself.

If the gentlelady will yield, there have been votes on record in this House, including a vote prior to the last allocation of TARP funds, in which I am on record as asking for restrictions on executive compensation.

It appears the gentlelady from North Carolina does not like the answers that she has been receiving.

I am on record as being against excessive compensation, restrictions on bonuses paid to those recipients of the TARP fund.

I think there should be a time and a place for this debate, and it is unfortunate that a debate on volunteerism and service has been turned into a debate on another issue.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Madam Speaker, I rise today during National MS Awareness Week to bring attention to a disease that affects an estimated 400,000 people living in the United States. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease of the central nervous system that is unpredictable, the symptoms of which vary from person to person. Because MS affects individuals so differently, it is difficult to make generalizations about disability; however, MS is often characterized by tingling, numbness, painful sensations, muscle tightness or paralysis. Statistics suggest that two out of three people with MS remain able to walk over their lifetime, though many require a cane or other assistive device. MS is not always easy to diagnose because symptoms come and go but it is estimated every week, 200 people in the United States are diagnosed with MS.

I was diagnosed with MS in 2003; I have an intimate understanding about how important it is to find a cure for the disease. Research has developed ``disease-modifying'' drugs that help lessen the frequency and severity of MS attacks, reduce the accumulation of lesions in the brain and may slow the progression of disability, but we can do more.

Health insurance reform is a necessity in this country. Because insurance companies ``tier'' medications as a way to cut costs, people diagnosed with MS often find their necessary medications financially out of reach. Decisions about which medications patients should take must be made by doctors, not corporations.

The National MS Society has been a tireless advocate for health care reform and research on behalf of persons living with MS. I would like to take a moment to recognize all the work the National MS Society has put into combating this disease. Through extensive research, providing comprehensive services to people with MS and through their advocacy, they have made great strides in raising MS awareness. I congratulate them on their hard work.

Madam Speaker, I know first-hand how important it is to fund medical research to find cures for chronic diseases. As individuals and as a government, we need to come together and provide the resources necessary to create a world free of MS. I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in fighting for a cure for MS and other diseases, so that all Americans can live fully active, healthy lives.

Mr. Speaker, I also rise to congratulate Miami University on this occasion of its 200th anniversary.

Miami University is often referred to as the Harvard of the Midwest. We think of it as our ``public school Ivy.'' It is a public university that provides a world-class education to students from Ohio, around our country, and around the world. Miami University is an outstanding example of the kind of value that public institutions can provide, the strength of our public education system, and our public university system in Ohio.

I hope that all of us in this Chamber will recognize the strength of the programs at Miami University and the value of institutions like Miami to the strength of our democracy.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 31. In this digital age, people from all walks of life are affected by data privacy issues, from teenagers who maintain profiles on social networking websites to business professionals who schedule meetings and place orders online. Instant electronic communications have brought us closer together and made us prosperous in many ways, but they have also created threats to the privacy of our personal information.

As personal information becomes readily accessible online, those who endeavor to use our personal data to their own advantage are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their attempts to obtain it: the harvesting of personal information from public profiles of social networking websites, phishing and scamming e-mails, and passive monitoring of unsecured wireless networks all provide very real dangers to our personal information. The threat of identity theft, which can have devastating consequences that can take years to undo, remains very real to many people across the country as they use the Internet and go about their everyday lives.

These threats can be mitigated if individuals are vigilant in protecting their privacy, but few people are fully aware of all of the sources of potential danger to their personal information. Online security and computer security are broad subjects that encompass simple security measures such as using strong passwords as well as more complicated subjects such as the dangers of unsecured wireless networks. Increasing the awareness of these threats would greatly benefit individuals whose personal information is at risk online.

H. Res. 31 marks January 28, 2009, as ``National Data Privacy Day''. Our effort to establish this date as National Data Privacy Day would be in conjunction with numerous other organizations and institutions that are acting to encourage awareness of data privacy issues on this day. The Ohio State University in my district, for example, is strongly concerned with data privacy and will be printing articles, offering daily tips, distributing posters, and actively working with students, faculty and staff to raise awareness of personal information privacy issues.

Commendable efforts such as these encourage the discussion of data privacy in classrooms and living rooms across our country and will help individuals better protect themselves against the misuse of their personal information online and help them develop good security habits overall. I'm proud to be a co-sponsor of this resolution and will work with my colleagues to continue to raise awareness of digital privacy, and safeguard ourselves in the digital area.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida for this opportunity to rise today in support of the rule and H.R. 2, the reauthorization and expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program, a program which has brought health care coverage to over 6 million children.

But there are also millions of children today whose parents do not have the financial ability to purchase health insurance. The parents of 4 million children must worry each time a child is sick if they can afford to take that child to a doctor, if they can afford to treat that child's cancer or leukemia.

My colleagues, many of you have children and know the anguish a parent feels when her or his child is sick. Imagine if you were also unable to obtain health insurance coverage to cover that illness.

Our great country, which despite its economic problems is still a country of great wealth and resources, of compassion and community, can certainly come together in a bipartisan fashion to add 4 million more children to the Child Health Insurance Program.