Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, over the last 2 months since we passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs

Act, House Democrats have been spreading the good news.

In fact, we have had over 1,000 events across this Nation where House Democrats bring home to Americans what we have done with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, strengthening our water systems and sewer systems, rebuilding our roads and our bridges.

We just had a catastrophic bridge failure in Pittsburgh that brings home the need to do these things.

Expanding broadband internet into the rural places that need them the most, this is a wonderful thing that is highlighting the fact that Democrats delivered with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

That is not the wonder, Madam Speaker. The wonder in all of this is that we had 200 House Republicans voting no, voting against investing in America and helping our companies and our country compete with China, Europe, and places abroad.

They voted no. They voted against infrastructure, and they need to explain why.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Frank W. Zardecki for his 62 years of service to our country. A veteran of the United States Air Force, he has served as the Deputy Commander of Tobyhanna Army Depot for 32 years, supporting the organization and the 4,000 personnel who perform diversified logistics, administrative, and related support missions. On January 6, Frank was honored for his contributions and achievements in the role.

Frank answered the call of duty and joined the United States Air Force in 1960 and served until 1964. On January 4, 1966, he began working as an electronic test equipment repairer at the Tobyhanna Army Depot. In 1972, he was promoted to his first supervisory role in the avionics branch, and, by 1976, he was named a general foreman.

From 1982 to 1984, Frank served as the Depot's first Force Modernization Officer. He served as Chief of the Production Engineering Department, chosen for his experience, technical ability, and managerial skills. In 1985 and 1986, he was selected by DESCOM, the two-star headquarters command, for a special assignment as the Civilian Executive Assistant at the Sierra Army Depot in California, where he was responsible for directing the ammunition and special weapons missions performed at the instillation. When he returned, he was promoted as the Chief of the Shops Division in the Maintenance Directorate. In 1988 and 1989, he served as the Deputy Director of Maintenance.

In December 1990, he received a temporary promotion to Acting Deputy Commander, and in June 1991, he was permanently installed in the role, beginning his three-decade tenure in the position, making him the longest-serving Deputy Commander in Tobyhanna Army Depot history. The Depot has thrived under Frank's direction, transitioning from a traditional repair depot to a state-of-the art logistics service center that provides comprehensive maintenance, repair engineering, and logistics services for the entire Department of Defense as well as thousands of jobs in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The Secretary of the Army named Tobyhanna Army Depot the Center for Industrial and Technical Excellence for Communications, Electronics. Avionics, and Missile Guidance and Control Systems. The Department of Defense has also recognized the Depot with the Robert T. Mason Depot Maintenance Excellence Award, and the Depot has been the recipient of seven Shingo Awards for manufacturing excellence.

For his efforts and expertise, Frank has been called to serve on numerous Department of the Army and Department of Defense special studies on military logistics, and he is widely recognized as a leader in depot maintenance. Throughout his career, Frank has received many awards for his contributions to the field. He has received the Department of Defense Exceptional Civilian Service Award, two Department of the Army Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service Awards, the Meritorious Civilian Service Award, four Superior Civilian Service Awards, the Commander's Award for Civilian Service, and other performance and special service awards.

I am honored to join Tobyhanna Army Depot in recognizing Frank for his six decades of service to the nation as a veteran of the United States Air Force and dedicated public servant at the Tobyhanna Army Depot. Frank has been instrumental in the growth and success of the Depot, and we are grateful for his vision and dedication. I wish him the best in his retirement.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Dave Williams for his two decades of service to the Pennsylvania agricultural community as a farm broadcaster, owner of the Pennsylvania Farm Country & American Farm County Radio Network, and producer of Pennsylvania Country Roads TV. In February 2021, he received the 2021 Gerald W. Reichard Impact Award from the Pennsylvania Farm Show, and he received the Barn Raiser Award at the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau's 71st Annual Meeting on November 16, 2021.

Dave was born in Wayne County, Pennsylvania and raised on a five- generation family farm in Cherry Ridge. At age twelve, he took over a herd of 30 dairy cows and was active in 4-H. Dave then joined the military, and, after his service, he helped manage a 5,000-acre cattle ranch in Texas. With his late wife, Melba, he leased a 50-acre mule farm while working in the oil drilling business.

When he returned to Wayne County, he worked as a fleet manager in the trucking industry while returning to his agricultural roots on the weekends, farming and raising sheep and cows. He was named the president of the Pocono Mountains Antique Farm Association, doing shows at local fairs.

In the fall of 1998, Marilyn Shaffer of the Wayne County Farm Bureau, who was a fellow member of the antique machinery club, asked Dave to do a radio show for Honesdale's radio station. Dave pitched his idea for a radio show that would not only target farmers and their concerns but also the consumers who buy and eat the food. The station gave Dave the green light, and his first show featured Leroy Van Dyke, a popular country singer, as his initial guest. The show would go on to host state and federal legislators, governors, and state agricultural officials.

One of the highlights of his program is the ``heartland stories'' from farmers themselves, and Davie shares his own stories of growing up on and managing his family's farm. Dave is especially skilled at building a rapport with farmers and encouraging them to use their voice and the radio show platform to share their successes and concerns, helping consumers understand the agricultural process.

Dave joined the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau first as an officer and later as state director, and he served as a state delegate to the American Farm Bureau Association, through which he met Orion Samuelson, host of U.S. Farm Report, who told him he needed to be a National Farm Broadcaster. Dave then joined the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB), and later hosted Samuelson on his show. After connecting with Pennsylvania Cable Network at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, he was invited to have his own show on the network which reaches an audience of 3.5 million.

I am honored to recognize Dave for his storied broadcasting career. His work has contributed immeasurably to the visibility of the agricultural community both in Pennsylvania and across the country, and I am grateful for his

efforts to champion farmers' voices. I wish him continued success with his broadcasting and agricultural endeavors.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank the gentleman particularly not only for authoring and helping out all the rest of us cosponsor this important legislation, but in particular for mentioning the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania here late this afternoon.

It was Pennsylvania that was instrumental in actually passing the Social Security Act back in the thirties. It was a huge fight. It was a time when Republicans called the concept of Social Security, Madam Speaker, communism. They called it that. They said it would lead to horrible things. They said it would be the ruination of the American economy and the American democracy, and it was communism. That is what the Republicans called the whole idea of Social Security when the Roosevelt administration came up with it.

And the Roosevelt administration was having a huge fight with the Republican-dominated Supreme Court of the United States. They were against it. And they kept ruling that Roosevelt's programs, the National Labor Relations Act, all of these programs that Roosevelt came up with, the Securities and Exchange Commission, all of these programs that Roosevelt came up with to try to work our way out of the Great Depression, the Supreme Court was invalidating as unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause.

And it was actually a member of the United States Supreme Court, a Republican member named Owen J. Roberts who saved the day, Congressman Larson. He saved the day because he changed his mind about the commerce clause and how it applied to the Social Security Act.

Owen J. Roberts was a terrific trial lawyer from Philadelphia. He was a prosecutor. He was in the U.S. Attorney's Office. And he personally handled the Teapot Dome scandal. He prosecuted the criminals who perpetrated the Teapot Dome scandal back in the twenties.

And his career flourished. He started a law firm where I actually practiced for 2 years as a young lawyer myself in Philadelphia. And Owen J. Roberts went on to join the Supreme Court of the United States as an associate justice, he was one of the Republican members.

There was great controversy about whether Social Security would be ruled constitutional. Roberts thought about it, and to his great and everlasting credit and to the credit of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, he changed his mind. He changed his mind, and he validated the Social Security Act. And as a result, it was signed into law and it was held constitutional.

The Social Security Administration took off, and all of a sudden, American life included this promise, as the gentleman stated, a sacred trust. This promise that if you work your whole life, you pay into the system, you pay your FICA taxes all the way through, you continue to pay every quarter all the way through your career, that is the promise, that when you retire you will not be left destitute. You will not be relegated to poverty and to privation, that you will have food on your table and a roof over your head because you will have money coming in that is your money. It is your money. You paid into it. It is not the government, it is an insurance program, as the gentleman from Connecticut astutely noted. And it is a promise that has been kept every day, every week, every month since the 1930s. We are talking about 80 years of keeping a promise for Social Security.

In my district it makes a very big difference. The gentleman from Connecticut is right. There is an awful lot of people who are over the age of retirement who are depending entirely on Social Security checks to survive. Yes, in some places it is around 25 percent, that might be the average. But I can tell you that there are places that are hurting in this country where the people surviving on Social Security checks and nothing else coming in approaches 40 or 50 percent.

You can see who it is, and you feel for them, and you know that every year they see what they call the COLA increases, the cost-of-living adjustment increases. It is all worked out by a mathematical formula. It is called CPI, and it is the Consumer Price Index, and it rises in accordance with what formula is used.

Over the years, Social Security has been attacked by Republicans. It was attacked savagely at the outset as communism. In the first decade of this millennium, the Republicans wanted to privatize Social Security, make it so that the money went into the stock market.

Now, imagine that, into the stock market.

And then when we had this enormous stock market crash in 2008, the retirement savings of all of these people who paid into this wonderful insurance program for retirement would have been wiped out. But it was Democrats who fought day in and day out in that time. You were there, Mr. Larson.

The gentleman is exactly correct. It was an attempt to privatize Social Security in those years. And it was only by the stalwart, staunch defense of the Social Security system by the Democrats--Democrats present here in this Chamber today--who did that and fought it off. And thank God they did.

Because it is true, the stock market crash of 2000 would have thrown millions and millions of seniors right into poverty if the Republicans had got away with it, had privatized Social Security.

And it did not stop there. I was not in Congress in those years, but I came into Congress. I was elected in 2012. And in 2013, I was sworn in for the first time. And here I am, a freshman Democrat, and about 4 months into my very first term, something happened. The Republicans were pushing this scheme called chained CPI. And chained CPI was a $50 expression that means lower cost of living adjustment increases, lower increases year after year.

The idea was, well, we have to make ends meet at Social Security so let's cut increases for seniors. That was

their plan. And they called that chained CPI.

Now, there was a big fight over that, of course. And at least at that point, the Republicans weren't calling Social Security communism, but they were still trying to cut it for seniors, and that is no good. And the Democrats fought back hard against that.

Well, along comes 2013, and in the springtime, the President comes out with a budget. And President Obama at the time, he wanted to extend an olive branch to the Republicans, it might be recalled. And President Obama incorporated this chained CPI notion in his budget. He put that in his budget.

I wasn't having it. I joined a bunch of people--I think the congressman from Connecticut was with me--and we went out on the lawn of the Capitol to protest against the President of the United States, a Democratic President of the United States extending this olive branch to the Republicans by putting chained CPI in his budget. We were protesting. We Democrats were protesting against a Democratic President going along with that notion just to try to get along with the Republicans.

In the end, to his everlasting credit, President Obama withdrew that offer and never brought it up again. And now, under Social Security 2100, there is a real cost of living adjustment formula in there, something that actually takes into account the things that seniors has to buy; the things that seniors can't afford unless they get the increase; the things that seniors need to live in any kind of reasonable style of living. There is a reasonable cost of living adjustment in Social Security 2100, and I am proud to be on that bill.

Look, workers paid into this fund all their careers; it is their money. And the promise is not that you will get some money, the promise is that you are going to get enough money to make it out of poverty in your retirement. And if you have other things coming in, fine, but there are people who rely entirely--that is their sole source of support--the Social Security checks that they get.

Madam Speaker, in my district, 140,000 people, relying on those Social Security checks coming in. And my suggestion this evening, as we talk about Social Security 2100, let's pass it and keep the promise.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the continuing resolution. At the same time, I join my colleagues in calling on the other side of the aisle to join in helping enact a year-long appropriations act, the way we are supposed to do, rather than relying on this kind of stop-and-go government funding or a full-year continuing resolution, as has also been threatened.

Look, a full-year continuing resolution would be disastrous to our country in so many ways. It would greatly limit or reduce essential investments in our Nation's future.

As for the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, as reported out of committee earlier this year, it provides funding increases aimed at creating jobs in distressed communities, enforcing our trade laws, fighting crime and supporting community involvement with law enforcement, ensuring civil rights, advancing American scientific research, fighting the opioid epidemic, confronting the climate crisis, among so many other critical public investments. These funding increases are only possible with an appropriations agreement.

I urge support, both for the short-term CR, and to quickly finalize a full-year appropriations agreement.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.

Madam Speaker, together with President Biden, this country has already created 5.6 million jobs this year alone. Growth is up, wages are up, and unemployment is at a figure that is at a low of a couple of generations at this point.

And in the middle of all of this, Democrats had the temerity to enact the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a historic occasion.

The infrastructure law the Democrats delivered will create millions more good-paying jobs--American jobs, union jobs, family-sustaining jobs, jobs that cannot be outsourced or sent offshore.

The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that was signed into law the week before last makes the largest Federal investment in public transit ever. It makes the largest Federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak. It makes the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the Interstate Highway System. It makes the largest investment in clean drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in American history. It ensures

that every American has access to reliable high-speed internet. It helps tackle the climate crisis by making the largest investment in clean energy transmission and electric vehicle infrastructure in history.

Madam Speaker, rebuilding our infrastructure means shoring up our American middle class. It means jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, and more jobs. It means, maybe most importantly to a lot of us, honoring the work and the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation, those folks that Tom Brokaw called the Greatest Generation. They came back from World War II, from defeating fascism in the Pacific and the Atlantic, and they came back after making all of those sacrifices, suffering all of those hardships and deprivations and what did they do? They immediately set to work sacrificing more for their children and their grandchildren, for us. They sacrificed for us, and they didn't stop sacrificing.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.

Madam Speaker, to honor the memory of a 104-year-old hero of World War II and a survivor of the infamous Bataan Death March, I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan).

Moment of Silence Honoring Brigadier General Ben Skardon

Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Duncan for that fine tribute, and I ask, in harmony with Congressman Duncan, that this House observe a moment of silence in honor of the memory of this World War II hero, Colonel Ben Skardon.

Madam Speaker, this week, Democrats delivered on infrastructure.

Over the past number of years, we have had infrastructure week after infrastructure week. Eventually, infrastructure week became a joke.

Now, under the current administration, we have made good on our promise to rebuild the arteries of America. We have delivered a once- in-a-century investment in all the infrastructure that makes our Nation run.

It is the kind of investment that will create millions of good-paying jobs and make our Nation more competitive with every other country in the world.

When President Biden signed into law this bill, this act, yesterday, it was the largest investment in rebuilding bridges since the construction of the Interstate Highway System, the largest Federal investment in passenger rail since the original establishment of Amtrak, and the largest investment in clean drinking water in American history.

So important for my district in northeastern Pennsylvania, this will put northeastern Pennsylvania back on the passenger rail map, bring broadband internet to every rural area in my district, and support our efforts to reclaim all the abandoned mine land sites that have scarred our landscape for decades and fouled our watercourses for that length of time as well.

It will create millions of jobs, good-paying jobs, American jobs, union jobs, jobs that cannot be outsourced across the ocean.

This is truly a transformative law that will help us build a stronger middle class and a brighter future for our entire Nation.

What we are here to talk about this evening is what it means to us, this kind of investment, this kind of belief in our future here in America, what it means to us individually, in our particular districts.

I have here this evening my fellow Pennsylvanian from the Second Congressional District of Pennsylvania, Representative Brendan Boyle.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Brendan F. Boyle) so he can tell us what it means to him that we have made this historic investment in America.

Will the gentleman yield for a question?

You mentioned being number one and competing. What are you talking about, being number one, on what list? And who do we have to compete with?

Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Boyle for his insights about the competition aspect.

By delivering this infrastructure bill yesterday afternoon, as we did, Democrats are delivering millions of good-paying union jobs, jobs that will put pipefitters and plumbers to work replacing lead water pipes so every child in America can drink clean water. No more will we have the Flint, Michigans where little kids get poisoned by lead in their drinking water, because we are going to rip out all that 100- year-old piping with the lead in it so that won't happen again.

We will transform roads, rail, bridges, public transit, modernize our ports and airports and freight rail, manufacture solar panels, wind farms, batteries, electric vehicles to grow clean energy supply chains that we can export to the rest of the world.

This is a transformational moment not only for the American economy but for the American future and the American people.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from the 4th Congressional District of Pennsylvania, Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, to elucidate further on what it means that we enacted this law yesterday afternoon. So far it is all Pennsylvanians.

Will the gentlewoman yield for a question?

It is a sad question, I have to say, because we call it the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, but the truth is, despite their best efforts to claim credit in local news across the country, 206 House Republicans voted against this bill. They voted against good-paying American jobs, they voted against roads, bridges, and rail systems, water systems and sewer systems, against broadband, and clean drinking water. They voted against the tools that we need to compete and win in the global economy as Representative Boyle pointed out.

My question is why? Why would they vote against this belief in our country, this investment in our future? Why would they vote against it?

Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Madeleine Dean of the 4th Congressional District of Pennsylvania.

This bill does so much, and we are so proud here tonight to talk about it. It is a win for the American people no matter which way you slice it.

Building out our first ever national network of charging stations so families can travel coast to coast in electric vehicles, making high- speed internet available and affordable for every household in America, especially those rural, hard-to-get-to places, cleaning up brownfields and Superfund sites, as well as plugging, as I said before, abandoned mine lands and orphan wells to stop pollution and protect public health and to build up our resistance to superstorms, droughts, wildfires, and hurricanes that cost us billions of dollars in damage, $99 billion last year alone.

This bipartisan infrastructure deal is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America, and a majority of these jobs, as Representative Boyle pointed out, do not require a college degree.

So the question is, what does it mean to us? What does it mean to us that we have passed this magnificent, enormous investment in American infrastructure, this belief in our Nation's future?

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline) to describe what it means to him and his 1st District constituents.

You also mentioned competition, and Congressman Boyle brought that up. And you also mentioned how much is going into broadband internet availability in Rhode Island.

How does that affect competition and the ability of Rhode Islanders to compete?

I yield to the gentleman from Rhode Island.

Madam Speaker, I think Mr. Cicilline is right. I think competition is maybe the biggest point of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Competition that will not only grease the skids for our companies to bring their products to market and to innovate and to compete with companies all over the world, but maybe more importantly, to allow our individuals--as Mr. Cicilline just pointed out--to make the most of themselves.

It was about 80 years ago that we had the Rural Electrification Act in the United States, and it did pretty much the same thing with electricity because you had pockets, little corners of America, rural places mostly, that didn't have electric power. And to think how far they would have been left behind if 80 years ago the government didn't make the effort to include all of America as we moved forward into the modern age of electricity; it is the same thing with internet connectivity, isn't it?

Madam Speaker, another thing we did in the past to invest in ourselves was the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System. This was something that the greatest generation did, Madam Speaker. They came back from World War II--we just honored a World War II hero of the Bataan Death March--but these folks came home from all of the privations and sacrifices and suffering that they went through in the war, and what did they do? They sacrificed more for us for the future, what was then the future, what is now us. They sacrificed for us. They built the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System.

What did it do? It greased the skids for American companies, enabled companies to bring their products to market faster and more cheaply and in a way that enabled them to compete with every other country in the world.

This is the kind of investment that makes America win in competitions all over the world.

You don't have to be an engineer to understand these things. You don't have to be a mechanical engineer to know that this is exactly what we need to be doing in the United States of America these days. It was a wonder that it took until now.

Certainly, my entire time in Congress I have been waiting for a major infrastructure bill to come through to beef up our roads and our bridges; our water systems and our sewer systems; our broadband internet; and move us into the next century to compete with China, Europe, Russia, and all of the places that would do away with us if they could beat us.

It was just yesterday afternoon that this bill, the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, was signed into law on the south lawn of the White House. And who was sitting next to me in the chair to my left, but Representative Paul Tonko of the 20th District of New York, who happens to be a mechanical engineer, and he knows one or two things about making things work; making them work better, more efficiently, faster, and cheaper.

What does it mean to you, Representative Tonko, that we pass this bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act?

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko).

It was chilly.

It is an afternoon we won't soon forget.

Will the gentleman yield for a question?

Well now, of course, the press has noted with interest that it took us weeks and months to sort out all the details and finally get it to the White House for signature.

Here is my question: Contrast those weeks and months with how long will this country benefit from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act? How long?

Will the gentleman yield for another question?

So we have all been seeing these images of 75, 80 cargo ships off the coast of California, Long Beach, Los Angeles, waiting to get in because we are starting up our economy after the pandemic was shut down. Obviously, it is not something we went to school for--shutting down an American economy and starting it back up-- but that is what we are doing, and we are muddling through it. And there are some painful price hikes here and there because of it--hard to say how long they will go on.

But the one thing that struck me was all of those containerships full, they told me that it takes 7,000 tractor-trailers to unload a containership. That is 7,000 containers on a ship, and over 70 or 80 ships out there in the harbor. All of these manufactured goods coming from China.

And it said to me, we read about the trade imbalance, we learn about the trade imbalance, we learn that China is out-manufacturing us and we are buying their goods. But, man, until you see those ships out in the harbor offshore, it doesn't really hit home how much they are beating us at manufacturing. What does this bill do to address that?

And I like the point about how shutting down for the pandemic, it kind of taught us a lot of things about our own economy, about the pockets of, for example, the gig workers nobody was thinking about at the outset; we had to include them in the relief money. But, man, when we saw these ships piling up offshore, it really brought home to me really how we are being out-manufactured and we have to pick up our game.

Investing in our infrastructure, what do you think? Is it going to help?

It is a victory for America that we will treasure and favor for many years to come.

Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Paul Tonko from the 20th District of New York for his insights and also for helping me introduce our next speaker, the dynamic Representative Ross from the Second District of North Carolina, where innovation is second nature.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Ross).

Madam Speaker, may I ask how much time is remaining.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa).

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

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.

Madam Speaker, we are here tonight to talk about these amazing bills coming up having to do with our investment in the United States of America, both in the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better Act.

These two bills taken together will create millions of American jobs rebuilding our infrastructure and building clean energy technology to combat climate change. Together, the Build Back Better Act and the infrastructure package are expected to create 2 million jobs a year on average. They will reward work by cutting taxes for working families and lowering costs on the things that keep folks up late at night, like healthcare, childcare, and home care for aging relatives.

We are going to pay for that investment and those investments in our Nation and in working families by making sure that the ultra-wealthy and the corporations pay their fair share.

The Build Back Better Act will not add to the deficit, and no one making less than $400,000 a year will pay a penny more in taxes. That is the promise that President Joe Biden made, and we intend to keep it.

Now, Madam Speaker, we have here Representative Brian Higgins of Buffalo. He is a ninth-term Member from western New York, and prior to serving in Congress, Representative Higgins was a history and economics instructor at SUNY Buffalo State College. Representative Higgins also served in local and State elected office. Congressman Higgins has been a fierce advocate of stronger regional and national economic policies.

Congressman Higgins currently serves on the Ways and Means and Budget Committees. Congressman Higgins is also the Democratic chair of the House Northern Border Caucus. Congressman Higgins is the chair of the House Cancer Caucus, and he is a House lead on the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Higgins).

Madam Speaker, I have been listening to our colleagues across the aisle complaining about so-called socialist tax increases that we have in store.

Does the gentleman know what the top marginal tax rate under the Eisenhower administration was?

I yield to the gentleman from New York.

Ninety-one percent under the Republican Eisenhower administration during the 1950s.

And what happened to that 91 percent, if the gentleman knows?

We are talking about the top marginal tax rate, which is in the 30s right now. Am I correct in that?

You can continue.

Madam Speaker, I want to talk about a few things. I want to talk about jobs, tax cuts, and lower costs for American families.

First, jobs. Together, under the Biden administration, we have already created nearly 5 million jobs this year. Growth is up. Wages are up. And unemployment right now is down below 5 percent.

Together with Build Back Better, the bipartisan infrastructure bill will create millions more jobs, good-paying jobs, American jobs, union jobs, jobs that cannot be outsourced, cannot be offshored.

This infrastructure package makes the largest Federal investment in public transit ever. It is the largest Federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak.

In Pennsylvania alone, the State will be opened up to over 3 million people with access to Amtrak. In northeastern Pennsylvania, Amtrak has assessed that adding a line to reach northeastern Pennsylvania will add $87 million a year in additional economic activity in Pennsylvania.

These are amazing, smart investments, investments that we have to make in our country if we expect to compete with Europe, with China, with Russian, places that are investing in their infrastructure.

We are talking about the largest investment in clean drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in American history. This is how we avoid catastrophes like what happened in Flint, Michigan, where little kids got brain damage from drinking lead-tainted water from pipes that hadn't been replaced in over 100 years.

This infrastructure investment will ensure that every American has access to reliable high-speed internet. This is the kind of investment that the Federal Government knows how to make. This is the kind of effort that we have succeeded at before because we have seen it.

Eighty years ago, it was the Rural Electrification Act, which brought electricity to places in America that did not have it and would not have it today if the government hadn't brought that into effect. The Rural Electrification Act did essentially the same thing with electricity that we intend to do with broadband internet access.

We can't leave people behind. That is what we do if we continue on the same path we are on.

This infrastructure bill helps us tackle, maybe most importantly, the climate crisis by making the largest investment in clean energy transmission and electric vehicle infrastructure in history. Build Back Better will work with the infrastructure package to make even more investments in electric vehicles and other clean energy technology to combat climate change while making our economy more competitive.

Rebuilding our infrastructure means rebuilding our middle class. It means jobs, jobs, jobs, and more jobs.

Before I move on to tax cuts, I would like to recognize a fellow Member from Pennsylvania, Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon. Mary Gay Scanlon is a second-term Member representing Pennsylvania's Fifth Congressional District. In Congress, Representative Scanlon has continued her work as a lifelong advocate for children and families.

Representative Scanlon currently serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Rules Committee. She is vice chair of the House Committee on House Administration.

Congresswoman Scanlon and her husband, Mark, have three adult children. They currently reside in Swarthmore with a lot of pets.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon).

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman.

I appreciate that you mentioned potholes, and you don't have to be from Pennsylvania to understand the scourge of potholes. I will say that in my hometown of Scranton, there was a study done about how much it costs car owners every year to play the pothole slalom every year and hope that you don't damage your car. They do damage their cars, and it costs on average $1,400 a year for car owners to drive over these rough roads.

It is something that only the government can do, fix the roads, pave the roads, fix the bridges. Thank you for mentioning that.

In fact, I would be remiss if I did not mention, the Susquehanna River flows through northeastern Pennsylvania and it bisects the two towns of Pittston and West Pittston. And there are only two bridges over the Susquehanna at Pittston to West Pittston, and one of them is out right now. It is out because it is really old; it hasn't been maintained properly because the money wasn't there, the investment wasn't made, and we didn't get the job done. This is exactly why we have to make these investments.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her time this evening.

Madam Speaker, I want to go back on the question of infrastructure for a moment.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Higgins), our colleague from Buffalo.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Higgins), for his time here this evening.

Madam Speaker, we have talked about creating jobs, and Build Back Better is about creating jobs. It is also about helping workers keep more of their hard-earned paychecks by cutting taxes for the middle class. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, the child tax credit's monthly tax cuts are already helping parents put gas in the car or pay for childcare so they can go to work and help fuel our economy.

The latest data analyzed by the JEC found that these tax cuts are generating more than $19 billion in spending in local economies each month throughout our Nation. The data are clear: When working families keep more of their hard-earned money, that is more money pumping into local businesses and supporting even more jobs. That is why we are working to continue those tax cuts and more through the Build Back Better Act.

Democrats passed the child tax credit and the American Rescue Plan without a single Republican vote. That is right. Every single Republican voted against more money in the pockets of hardworking families.

Now, it is Democrats who are working to extend the child tax credit. This contrast could not be clearer. When Democrats control the Congress, we cut taxes for working people. When Republicans control the Congress, they cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires and corporations. And they leave middle-class families out to dry.

Madam Speaker, we are joined tonight by an esteemed colleague, Representative Paul Tonko of the Capital District of New York. He is a six-term Member of Congress from Upstate New York and a lifelong public servant. Throughout his career, he has been a strong fighter for the environment and sustainable energy, and he currently serves as the cochair for the Sustainable Energy and Environmental Coalition Caucus and a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Representative Tonko is a longstanding champion for the working class by advancing policies that create jobs, provide economic opportunity, and ensure that senior citizens are able to retire with dignity.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko).

Madam Speaker, I request a colloquy with the gentleman from New York.

Is the gentleman trained as an engineer?

Madam Speaker, the gentleman was discussing the necklace of communities that followed the Erie Canal. Earlier on this evening I was talking about how Amtrak assessed that restoring passenger rail in northeastern Pennsylvania would result in about $87 million per year of additional economic activity along the line.

Does that hold water?

It is true, isn't it, that the Build Back Better Act and the bricks and mortar infrastructure act, they work together, they dovetail to achieve the visions you are talking about?

Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Tonko. We have an engineer on his toes here this evening who has picked up on a lot of the points that have been made previously.

For example, Representative Mary Gay Scanlon and Representative Tonko both brought up the similarity between expanding broadband internet access to all of the rural places and all the nooks and crannies and hollers in this country. The similarity between doing that and enacting the Rural Electrification Act 80 years ago by President Franklin Roosevelt, if we hadn't done that so many people would have been left behind, literally, in the dark.

If we don't do this, we are going to leave Americans behind in the quest for knowledge and keeping up in the modern economy by use of high-speed broadband internet.

Another thing Representative Tonko just mentioned, Madam Speaker, is about filling jobs. I represent northeastern Pennsylvania, and I talk to employers a lot, employers of manufacturing jobs, employers of retail and restaurant jobs, and the lament has been constant. With manufacturing jobs, it predated the pandemic, it was that we can't find people trained-up to do our work. We can't find people who know how to run CNC machines, the modern version of the lathe, to manufacture parts in their businesses.

The Build Back Better Act includes a lot of money for workforce development. It is a big favor being done for employers, for companies that do manufacturing work; but it goes beyond that. As Representative Tonko just mentioned, there are so many families, single-parent families, where either the mom or the dad, probably predominantly the mom, is home watching kids and doesn't have options for childcare or for pre-K that would enable them to go out and go back to

work. That is what we are seeing right now after the pandemic.

In fact, we have Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in my district, and the chief executive officer of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce did a survey and touched on the very point Representative Tonko just made. The survey showed that of the people who took themselves out of the workforce because of the pandemic, in restaurant and retail jobs, of those people, 54 percent of those who have not gone back have not gone back because they are watching kids at home because of the scarcity of options for childcare.

Remember, when you are working in a restaurant or retail, if you are bussing tables, you are not making enough money to hire a nanny. You are not making enough money to get the top option in daycare. That is why the Build Back Better Act comes in handy.

What it does is--above all, remember this--it does a favor for those small businesses, those employers that are trying to fill those jobs that are open and are going begging for people to come fill them. The Build Back Better plan, by establishing universal pre-K and also beefing up childcare options, gives those parents the ability to go back to work and fill those jobs and power our economy.

What do you think, Representative Tonko?

I yield to the gentleman from New York.

Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Tonko. The gentleman has repeated the word ``competitive'' about three times just now, and I couldn't think of a more appropriate word because, Madam Speaker, it is a tough world out there. We Americans may think the world owes us a living, but it doesn't. We have to get out there and compete. Our businesses have to compete, and our people have to compete.

We have to be at the top of our game to win and keep those jobs and make sure they don't go to Europe or Russia or China. Those countries are investing in themselves. They are building fast railroads; they are building their roads and bridges; and they are investing in high-speed internet--all of these things. As a result, we had better be at the top of our game.

That is what we do with the Build Back Better Act and these infrastructure investments.

Now, I have talked about jobs and tax cuts, but cutting costs for American families has to be covered as well. As Representative Tonko mentioned, this bill will save most families more than half their spending on childcare and deliver free pre-K for every 3- and 4-year- old in America, as we talked about. That will free up moms and dads to go to work. It will also provide money for senior care.

There are a lot of folks at home who can't leave the house because they are taking care of an elder at home. That is another thing that these bills help.

Just think about what it means to a working family in northeastern Pennsylvania or anywhere else in this country that they can be freed up to go back to work and fill jobs that are going begging right now. It means parents can go to work and fuel our economy knowing their kids or their elderly parents are taken care of. That is good for our entire economy.

Now, we know that eldercare and childcare isn't the only thing keeping parents up late at night. It is about making ends meet and making sure they can afford good healthcare coverage. These bills beef up the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to the point where we almost have universal healthcare in this country. That is so good because it keeps our hospitals afloat.

Madam Speaker, do you know what happened in Pennsylvania before we got the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act? We started losing rural hospitals. Madam Speaker, it is no longer a theoretical thing. When your hospital isn't there because it went under, your actual healthcare suffered, not your coverage. Your chances of making it if you had a heart attack or a stroke go way, way down if the local hospitals are not financially sound and robust.

This will lower healthcare costs by strengthening the Affordable Care Act. It is a very important part of this bill.

Madam Speaker, maybe the most important thing that people miss about these bills that we are working on right now: The Build Back Better Act is paid for. It is fully paid for by making sure that the ultra-wealthy and corporations pay their fair share. It will not add to the deficit, and no one making less than $400,000 a year will pay a penny more in taxes. In fact, working families are going to see their taxes cut because Build Back Better rewards work and not wealth.

This contrast is worth repeating, Madam Speaker. When Democrats control the Congress, we cut taxes for working people. When Republicans do, they cut taxes for millionaires and corporations. No more.

As the President often says, for far too long, this economy has worked great for those at the top while hardworking Americans who built this country have been cut out of the deal. Democrats are dealing working people back into the deal by building an economy that gives them a fair shot. We are going to make sure it is paid for by asking the ultra-wealthy to pay their fair share. It is only right.

Madam Speaker, it is so important that we pass these bills. Representative Tonko has spent some considerable time talking about the importance of rebuilding, maintaining, and expanding our bricks-and- mortar infrastructure. That is so important. These are assets that were passed down to us from the Greatest Generation.

Who are we to think that we don't have to maintain them, take care of them, expand them, make them better, and make them work for a modern economy and all the needs that American workers and businesses have to stay competitive in the world?

I say let's pass these bills, let's get the job done, and let's fulfill the vision for the American workers, the American people, and our entire Nation.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko).

Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Tonko for his comments.

Madam Speaker, you can tell when you get Congressman Tonko, a guy from Amsterdam, New York, revved up about the Erie Canal, he is going to give you a good speech. A good speech is what we need to be doing right now because we have to have people understand the importance of passing the infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better Act, and passing them together because they fulfill the vision not only of President Biden but a vision that we have all been waiting for for the longest time.

Representative Tonko and I have been serving our entire time in Congress--for me, 9 years; for the gentleman, 13 years--waiting for infrastructure to happen.

Representative Mary Gay Scanlon spoke earlier tonight about all the infrastructure weeks we had under the past administration. We had infrastructure week after infrastructure week. She said that as a joke because it never happened. We just labeled weeks ``infrastructure week,'' and nobody did anything about it under the Republican administration.

We are here to say President Biden and the current Democratic majority in the House are going to deliver for the people on the vision of infrastructure and making our economy and our American people competitive on the world stage.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor John Basalyga who will be recognized as the Italian American Man of the Year by the Columbus Day Association of Lackawanna County at their annual gathering on Sunday, October 10, 2021.

John was raised in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. When he began his career in 2001, he knew he wanted to maintain the deep connection he felt to his home region by creating jobs and supporting the local economy. He founded Eastern Roofing Systems in Jessup, Pennsylvania, which began as a small local business and eventually grew into one of the largest commercial and industrial roofing contractors in the country, known for a commitment to quality and innovation.

In 2006, John founded JBAS Realty and began turning industrial properties into housing, transforming spaces from the region's manufacturing past into modern accommodations. The Lofts at 300 Bowman in Dickson City, the Railroad Lofts in Moscow, the Warehouse Lofts in Scranton, and the North Valley Lofts in Olyphant are a testament to John's architectural and design vision and his commitment to providing housing in Lackawanna County. His company also takes on commercial properties. In 2015, John acquired the Mall at Steamtown, which he transformed into the Marketplace at Steamtown: a modern, mixed-use facility that attracts tourists and locals to downtown Scranton. Other properties that have benefitted from John's talent and expertise include Crunch Fitness; the Olde Brook Inn, a popular fine dining restaurant; Geisinger Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, set to open later this year; and the Rock Creek Corporate Center and the Rock Creek Shops.

John is always working on new and innovative ventures that improve the landscape of our community. He recently founded Serenity Care, LLC, which will own and operate five senior care centers in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties. In his most ambitious move yet, he plans to demolish the Red Carpet Inn to construct the City of Scranton's tallest building, which will feature retail establishments, a restaurant, a hotel, office space, and residential units.

His success in commercial roofing led John to expand his business to include independent service and residential departments in 2019. Eastern Residential Solutions won an Angie's List Super Service Award in 2020 and is integral to John's charitable work. The company recently provided a new roof for a local veteran through the Beacon of Hope Project in 2020, and in 2021, they donated the labor and materials to replace all the roofs at South Scranton Little League.

I am honored to join with the Columbus Day Association of Lackawanna County in recognizing John as the Italian American Man of the Year. John's hard work, dedication, and vision have transformed the City of Scranton, and I wish him all the best as he continues to help our beloved city reach new heights.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Providence United Presbyterian Church in Scranton, Pennsylvania on its 175th anniversary. According to the original charter, it was the first Presbyterian church to be founded in the Lackawanna and Upper Valley. The occasion will be marked with a festive celebration and service on Sunday, October 3, 2021.

On July 27, 1846, residents of Providence village gathered to discuss building a meeting house. A vote determined that the meeting house would be governed by the. Presbyterians. On October 5, 1846, the First Presbyterian Church of Providence, Pennsylvania was organized. The first church building was built on the corner of Church Avenue and Oak Street, and the first meeting of the congregation took place on April 19, 1847. The house was dedicated on July 25, 1849 with Rev. Joseph Barlow as the first pastor. In 1862, a parsonage was added to the grounds, and a lecture and bible classroom was added to the church building in 1869.

In 1882, the congregation purchased land to build a new house of worship. They sold the parsonage to fund the cost of the new church in 1884, and in 1886, the beautiful stone church was completed and dedicated.

The faithful gathered and worshiped at 2020 North Main Avenue for almost a century. In 1971, the Providence Presbyterian Church merged with the Suburban Presbyterian Church to form the Providence United Presbyterian Church (PUPC). The congregations joined together to bear witness to their faith and serve their community.

The PUPC has been a pillar of the strong and supportive faith community of the City of Scranton for nearly two centuries. When the Concord United Church of Christ closed its doors, the PUPC welcomed its members into their fold. From 2004 to 2008, the PUPC shared worship and gathering spaces with many area churches, such as Marywood University, Covenant Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Church of Dunmore, Immanuel Lutheran Church, and Throop United Methodist Church. In 2008, the PUPC dedicated its new church building at 1145 Providence Road in Scranton.

Today, PUPC continues to grow and thrive. The church welcomes the faithful of the City of Scranton to practice their faith, fostering community and fellowship within the congregation.

I am honored to join with the congregation of the Providence United Presbyterian Church to celebrate 175 years of worship and community and the essential role it has played in the growth of Presbyterianism in Scranton. May PUPC continue to be a mainstay in the Scranton faith community and provide a safe and welcoming place to worship for generations to come.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mary Ann Moran- Savakinus for her 30 years of service to the Lackawanna County Historical Society. Mary Ann will be recognized on September 30, 2021.

Mary Ann, daughter of the late Francis Moran and Joann Schemel Moran, is an Archbald, Pennsylvania native. She pursued her interest in history at Kutztown University, and as an undergraduate, she worked as a curatorial intern at the Anthracite Heritage Museum. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in anthropology, she was recruited by the Museum to catalogue their Hennemuth photo collection. Mary Ann also spent time in Iowa as an archaeological technician for American Resource Group as a member of the field crew.

In 1991, she returned to Northeastern Pennsylvania where she began working at the Lackawanna County Historical Society as the administrative assistant. Six years later, she was appointed the Executive Director of the Society. Under her thoughtful direction, the Society expanded its programming, education opportunities, and community partnerships.

One of the hallmarks of Mary Ann's tenure as Executive Director is her effort to connect the Society with the surrounding community and promote interest in local history. She has invited local artists to participate in Society events to create compelling programming such as the musical/historical production ``Under the Lackawanna Moon''. She also helped start the Museum as a Classroom program which allows local teachers to receive Act 48 credits for familiarizing themselves with local resources that are available to their students.

Mary Ann's most popular programs are tours of the City of Scranton, which bring hundreds of visitors into the heart of the city to learn about its history. The Historic Hill House Tour, the Places of Worship Tour, and the Scranton After Dark paranormal walking tour teach visitors about the diverse architecture of Scranton and the residents who called the city home.

Mary Ann's direction has also supported the financial growth of the Society, increasing fundraising efforts with the annual Taste of History event and the successful Capital Campaign to fund the restoration of the exterior of the Society headquarters at the Catlin House.

I am honored to join the Lackawanna Historical Society in recognizing Mary Ann's 30 years of dedicated and selfless service. Her vision, commitment, and passion have helped foster a love of and appreciation for local history in our communities, and she has created a legacy of innovative programming that will be enjoyed by generations to come. I thank her for her service to our community and wish her all the best.

Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from Colorado for yielding.

It is true. Today, in the Congress, the Treasury Secretary of the United States, Janet Yellen, testified that we will run out of borrowing ability on October 18, next month. What this is, is a pernicious, dangerous threat to the United States of America that is happening right now. A lot of people don't realize it because, as Mr. Neguse just mentioned, extending or suspending the debt limit has been a routine, a normal thing for us to do, something that, in the words of Senator McConnell himself, is essential for keeping our economy moving, protecting American jobs, and preserving the livelihoods of many, many Americans.

So the question is, what are we doing? Why do we have to do this? Why do we have to stand here tonight and stand up for the full faith and credit of the United States?

It is because the economy depends on it, not only the economy of America, but the economy of the world depends on the full faith and credit of the United States of America.

Credit is vital to the operation of any economy. Any businessperson knows that. Every businessman, every businesswoman knows that his or her business runs on their credit and their credit rating. They know that credit, every loan, every loan decision, is based on the strength of the promise to repay, and that is what we are talking about here.

If a promise to repay a loan isn't strong, that loan is not made. If the strength of the promise to repay a loan is not there, then either the loan is not made or they have to charge a much higher interest rate to reflect the extra risk in getting repaid. It is all about repaying your loans.

If there is one thing that has been a constant in these United States, and something that we have been really proud of in our Nation for generation after generation, it is that if there is one rock-solid, dependable promise in the world, it is that the United States of America will pay its bills. That is a rock-solid promise, and it is something that reverberates in the world's economies.

That is why we have such a strong economy and a base from which to grow it. That is why we are able to run a government and build bridges and roads, and why we are able to maintain armed services in this country. It is why we are able to function as a nation and as an economy.

It is the foundation for our country's credit and financial systems. It is the source of confidence that powers our national economy. It is what makes our American dollar the currency of the world.

To threaten that by threatening to crash our obligations, to default on the obligation of the United States, it is the most irresponsible thing that I have heard of, even in the words of Senator McConnell himself, who, hours after Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen testified that October 18 is the day when we default on our obligations, hours after that, Senator McConnell over in the Senate whipped a ``no'' vote on suspending the debt limit, doing exactly what he said must not be done, endangering jobs, endangering our economy, threatening Americans savings.

What will happen? We will talk about this a little bit later.

Sure. That is really the big question here tonight.

Before I get to that, I want to commend my colleague from Pennsylvania for that excellent and well-thought-out legislation. If I can, I want to ask Congressman Boyle a question.

Your legislation that would vest the decision on the debt limit in the Treasury Secretary, would that apply to both Democratic and Republican Treasury Secretaries?

When you asked her, Secretary Yellen, about what would happen if we turned our back on our national debt, defaulted on our promises, just went back on our promise to pay, when you asked her that, did she talk about what could happen to the stock market?

I am not surprised. Go ahead.

Sure. Well, it is pretty obvious that every economist that you talk to finds it unthinkable that our Nation would turn its back on our obligations. When you ask them, What happens if we do? The first thing they say is that the stock market crashes.

In fact, it would be so bad that the stock market would crash more than 20 percent. 20 percent is the level at which--if it comes down 20 percent, they have to halt trading in New York on the stock market. It is such a catastrophe. That would happen.

Now, we have stock market crashes, and then there are other stock market crashes, but this is the kind of stock market crash that would be caused by an undermining of the confidence and the faith in the United States economy and the Government's ability and willingness to pay its debts. That rock solid promise that the world economy relies on would be gone. And so much of what drives an economy and makes it strong is confidence in governments and confidence that promises to pay will come true.

If that happens, that would be the kind of stock market crash that would presage not only a recession but a great depression. The last time we had that kind of a stock market crash was in 1929, and it led to a great depression that led to unemployment rates of over 15 and up to 20 percent of this country. It was unbelievable how bad the depression was. It lasted for over a decade.

It would be a catastrophe in this country of a magnitude we can't imagine. Nobody in our generation has had to live through something like that.

As a result, we have to talk about these things as if they would actually happen. If the country defaults on its debt, there will be a stock market crash, and it would be followed by a great depression, which is horrible, horrible damage that would be caused by nothing more than a political stunt by Senator Mitch McConnell.

I would hope that, but my hopes have been dashed before. We have seen this story before in different aspects.

In fact, we are approaching the 8-year anniversary now of what happened when I was a freshman Representative in 2013. It was October 1. The government shut down. At that time, the debate of the day was the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and there was the demand by the Republicans in the Senate that we repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and if we didn't, they were going to shut the government down.

Madam Speaker, they did shut the government down. They shut it down for 16 days in October. And I can tell you, when they do these things, they do damage the economy and they did damage the economy in 2013 in the fall.

In fact, in my own district, we actually measured how much damage was done to the economy in northeastern Pennsylvania. We have this marvelous asset, the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, that had to shut down because of that government shutdown.

Now, this happened the first 16 days of October, which always is a very lucrative tourist season in northeastern Pennsylvania. The people are out to see the beautiful resplendent colors of the fall in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Because the national park had to shut down for those 16 days, leaf peeper season went out the window. And all of the little businesses ringing that national park in Pike County and Monroe County, Pennsylvania, the restaurants and the motels and the gas stations and all of the little businesses that survive off the tourism every year, they got murdered during that shutdown. In fact, we measured that per day. That damaged our economy to the tune of $400,000 a day in my district alone.

The question is: Would Mitch McConnell go ahead and damage our economy purposely to make a political point? The answer is, yeah, he probably would. It looks like he is doing it, and they have done it before, and they don't care.

So it is a sad answer, I know. But the truth is, they would rather score a political point and do harm to our Nation's economy than stick up for the full faith and credit of the United States.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Matthew John Meade, who will be recognized as the Greater Pittston Friendly Sons of St. Patrick's 2021 Man of the Year at their Halfway to St. Patrick's Day event on Friday, September 24, 2021.

Matthew was born to Jack and Staton (Monk) Meade in Luzerne County and raised in Jenkins Township, Pennsylvania. He attended and graduated from Pittston Area High School, and he continued his education at Penn State University, Marywood University, Wilkes University, and King's College.

Matthew is actively involved in his community. He served as the president of the Friendly Sons in 2020. He was instrumental in guiding the organization during COVID-19 and innovating new ways to foster connection and maintain the group's hallmark conviviality despite the challenges of the pandemic. Matthew is also a member of the Knights of Columbus John F. Kennedy Council 372 and a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus Assembly 948. He is currently the president of the Pittston Knights Home Association.

Matthew has dedicated his professional career and volunteer efforts to educating children and encouraging their athletic endeavors. Since 2012, he has been employed by the Luzerne Intermediate Unit, Greater Nanticoke Area, and Northwest Area, and he has coached young people in track and field, football, golf, and basketball. Matthew also coached in the Avoca Jolly Boys Basketball League.

I am honored to join with the Greater Pittston Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in recognizing Matthew as the 2021 Man of the Year. He has been a longtime champion of local causes and organizations, and he has a bright future ahead of him. May he continue to answer the call to serve his community.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor P.J. Melvin, who will receive the Greater Pittston Friendly Sons of St. Patrick's 2021 Achievement Award at their Halfway to St. Patrick's Day event on Friday, September 24, 2021.

P.J. was horn in Pittston, Pennsylvania. A lifetime resident of the area, he has lived in the family homestead since he was born. In 1964, P.J. graduated from Pittston High School, earning the title of Outstanding Senior Boy. He continued his education at King's College, graduating with degrees in sociology and English education. While at King's, he played on the football team and could be found on stage acting in Shakespearean plays.

After graduating from King's, P.J. began his career as an educator at St. Cecilia's Junior High School in Exeter, Pennsylvania. He then joined the teaching staff at the Wyoming Area School District where he held several educational positions during his tenure.

P.J. is actively involved in many community organizations and he has dedicated his time to serve in leadership roles. He is a former president of the Greater Pittston Friendly Sons. He is also a member of the Knights of Columbus John F. Kennedy Council No. 372 where he previously held the position of Grand Knight.

P.J. is known for his love of Pittston, and his presence has been a mainstay in the community for generations. Always seeing the potential of his beloved hometown, he served his community and fellow citizens as a Pittston City councilman. He was instrumental in starting the Pittston Tomato Festival, an event that attracts thousands of visitors downtown annually, and he was part of the effort to bring the statue of President John F. Kennedy to Kennedy Boulevard in the city. In 2019, P.J. was unanimously chosen by the Parade Committee to serve as Grand Marshal for the Pittston St. Patrick's Day Parade.

I am honored to join with the Greater Pittston Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in recognizing P.J. as the recipient of the 2021 Achievement Award. I admire P.J's lifetime of dedication to the Greater Pittston area, and I wish him all the best.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Lee Monteforte, who will receive the Greater Pittston Friendly Sons of St. Patrick's 2021 W. Francis Swingle Award at their Halfway to St. Patrick's Day event on Friday, September 24, 2021.

Lee was born and raised in Pittston, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Pittston Area High School and he continued his academic career at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in education.

Lee started his professional career working as a representative for MetLife Securities and Wachovia Bank. He then transitioned into a career in marketing in the broadcast media industry, sharpening his skills in digital strategy, broadcast sales, connected TV advertising, and media buying. In 2000, he started at WOLFTV FOX 56 as a marketing consultant, and in 2006, he joined the marketing team at WNEP-TV 16.

Lee also dedicates his time to serving his community. In 2015, he served as president of the Greater Pittston Friendly Sons, and he has volunteered with the Pittston City St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus John F. Kennedy Council 372 and a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus Assembly 948. He currently serves as secretary for the Pittston Knights Home Association. Seeking to encourage young athletes and to further give back to his community, Lee returned to his alma mater, Pittston Area, to coach track and field and cross country.

Lee lives in Jenkins Township with his wife, Deborah, and they are the proud parents of Justin and Jaret.

I am honored to join with the Greater Pittston Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in recognizing Lee as the recipient of the 2021 Swingle Award. May he continue to find success in his career and fulfillment in his time spent serving his community.