Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, my office got a call today from Mary Anne Ferguson, 91 years old from Point Breeze in Pittsburgh. She asked me to

vote for health reform because she wants everyone to get the coverage she has. She remembers before Medicare when half of our seniors worried about getting sick because they had no health insurance.

Today, millions of working Americans fear getting sick because they don't have health coverage. One of those was Bill Koehler from Garfield in Pittsburgh. His sister Kitty says that Bill was a loving and generous man to his friends, family, and those in need. When he lost his job, he lost his coverage. His new job as a pizza delivery driver earned too much to qualify for Medicaid, and private insurance wasn't going to cover his preexisting heart condition--the very reason why he needed health insurance. He died last year from a heart attack while driving home.

So when I'm called to vote tonight, I will stand on the side of Mary Anne Ferguson and Bill Koehler and the tens of millions of Americans who need us to pass this bill. ``Yes'' to health reform. ``Yes'' to Bill Koehler.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1055, legislation to support the designation of National Robotics Week as an annual event.

I introduced this legislation because the increase in the number of emerging and potential applications for robotics is astounding, and

I believe Americans should know more about the important role the field of robotics will play in our national security and economic health in the coming decades.

Robotics has come a long way in the last 20 years, but most Americans still think of real-life robots as confined to the assembly line. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Recently, we've seen advanced next-generation robotics playing an important role in our military for our national defense. Unmanned aerial vehicles today provide life-saving reconnaissance support for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the rocket-armed Predator UAV is reportedly the most effective tool we have for attacking the Al- Qaeda and Taliban leadership and infrastructure. In addition, our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have benefited greatly from the development and deployment of mobile robots that detect and disarm IEDs--the improvised explosive devices that have posed the greatest threat to our troops on the ground in those countries.

Robotics is growing in economic importance as well. Robots are now being used to perform surgeries, fill prescriptions, and deliver supplies and materials, in addition to the role they've filled for many years working on the assembly line. The Robotics Industry Association estimates that nearly 200,000 robots are now used in the United States, and it's estimated that more than one million robots are being used worldwide. Even during the current economic downturn, orders for robotic technology in the pharmaceutical, biomedical, and food and consumer goods sectors rose significantly.

The emerging market for robotics in various sectors, including health care, national defense, homeland security, energy, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, agriculture, education, and consumer goods, is expected to grow at an annual rate of nearly 20 percent over the next few years to become a $27 billion industry worldwide, and one new study predicts that the personal robotics market for products like the Aibo, the iSobot, the Looj, and the Roomba will be worth $15 billion by 2015.

It's clear to me that robotics technology will drive much of the growth in the world economy in the coming decades, much as computer technology did over the last 30 years, and I want America to be the world leader in this exciting technology.

I'm proud to note that the Congressional District I have the honor of representing is already a world leader in researching and developing robotics technology. In 1999, in fact, the Wall Street Journal nicknamed Pittsburgh ``Roboburgh.''

Carnegie Mellon University has been leading the world in integrating robotic technologies into everyday life for over 30 years. Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute has nearly 350 full and part-time employees conducting research in a number of robotics-related fields, including space robotics, medical robotics, computer vision, and artificial intelligence, to name a few. All told, the Robotics Institute has about 100 research projects and an annual research budget of $55 million. Current projects include a lunar prospector robot for NASA and two USDA programs applying robotic technologies to agricultural production.

Pittsburgh is home to first generation companies like Bombardier Transportation and McKesson; and second generation companies such as RedZone, Seegrid, Aethon and RE Squared.

Pittsburgh is also the long-time home of one of the giants of the robotics industry, Red Whitaker, distinguished professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon University and the leader of the CMU team that won the 2007 DARPA Grand Challenge, a cross-country long-distance race for robotic cars.

At the state-level, Pennsylvania has a total of 45 robotics companies with over 2,000 employees. Nationwide, the figures are even larger and growing dramatically. That is why the Congressional Robotics Caucus was established--and why we're discussing National Robotics Week here today.

National Robotics Week is the brainchild of a number of universities and companies working to promote the development and adoption of robotics technology. The consortium works closely with the House Robotics Caucus, which Representative Gingrey and I have the honor of co-chairing.

The Robotics Caucus focuses on key issues facing the nation's traditional industrial robotics industry and, perhaps even more importantly, those issues critical to newly forming companies, markets, and industries based on advances in technology that enable robots to perform functions beyond traditional assembly line tasks and operate in environments beyond the factory floor. Our goals include: Increasing general awareness of robotics industry challenges and issues among Members of Congress and policy analysts in federal government; educating Members of Congress and congressional staff on current and future research, development, and utilization initiatives regarding robotics; serving as a forum where robotics-related policy issues can be exchanged, debated, and discussed; and ensuring that our nation remains globally competitive as the robotics industry rapidly expands and begins to exert a profound effect on the way our citizens live their lives.

Representative Wamp and I established the Caucus in 2007. Today, the Caucus has over 30 members from across the country.

About a year ago, the group of universities and businesses that serve on the advisory committee for the Robotics Caucus completed a national ``road map'' to promote robotics technology.

One of the steps contained in the road map was to raise public awareness of the potential robotics holds for our nation's growth in the coming years and encourage young people to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math educations essential for maintaining U.S. leadership in this important field. The road map identified the establishment of an annual national robotics week as a good way to help achieve that goal. The week of April 10th to 18th this year will be the first of these annual events to raise national awareness of robotics technology and its potential impact on the future of the Nation.

Over the course of that week, robotics companies, museums, schools, and universities will hold events to educate the public and get young people interested in pursuing careers in fields associated with robotics. In Pittsburgh, for example, Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie Science Center will be holding open houses and other events for the public, and there will be a demonstration of an unmanned helicopter by SkEyes Unlimited, a local robotics company.

I introduced H. Res. 1055 earlier this year to recognize the observation of National Robotics Week. It's my hope that this Congressional resolution will help give National Robotics Week--and the important goals it seeks to promote--a higher profile.

I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to lend my support to a provision in the Extenders Bill that is being debated in the Senate to extend and clarify a tax credit for the production of Steel Industry Fuel, SIF. Last Fall, my colleagues and I introduced a similar bill to extend and clarify the SIF credit. SIF is used by the domestic steel industry as a feedstock for the manufacture of coke, which is coal that has been carbonized and is used as a fuel in steel making.

In October, 2008, Congress enacted a new refined coal tax credit under Section 45 of the tax code for the production of steel industry fuel, which is made from coal waste sludge and coal. The availability of the steel industry fuel tax credit provides a subsidy for projects that may not otherwise be commercially viable on account of materials, process, technology and other transaction costs. As originally enacted, the SIF credit was available for only one year. The placed-in-service period for the credit expired as of December 31, 2009, so new steel industry fuel projects cannot be brought on line without an extension of the credit.

The use of Steel Industry Fuel provides significant energy, environmental, and economic benefits, all of which argue for an extension of the SIF credit. The primary benefit of manufacturing SIF is that the production process recaptures the BTU content of coal waste sludge. The Environmental Protection Agency has approved the production of SIF as a method for disposing of coal waste sludge, and the production of SIF is the preferred method of coal waste sludge disposal. In addition, our domestic steel industry can become more competitive by using SIF because it lowers production and operation costs.

From an energy resource and environmental standpoint, the production of SIF is the superior method of disposing of coal waste sludge, it would otherwise be treated as a hazardous waste under applicable Federal environmental rules. The alternative methods of disposal are incineration and land-filling, each of which requires the physical conveyance of a waste product off-site. These disposal methods fail to

recapture the energy content of the coal waste sludge because the coal waste sludge, which has a high BTU content, is not used as a fuel.

An extension of the Steel Industry Fuel tax incentive is of critical importance in the current economic downturn, and its expiration has had a negative impact on our domestic steel industry. Steel companies and coke plant operators have suffered large losses as steel demand has declined significantly. These companies have been forced to lay off thousands of workers in my State of Pennsylvania, as well as in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, and elsewhere. Domestic steel manufacturers have had to operate at low capacity utilization rates and coke batteries have been placed on ``hot idle,'' which is a holding pattern to prevent the coke battery bricks from cooling and damaging the battery. The extension and clarification of the SIF credit will help these manufacturers mitigate their losses as the economy recovers.

The one-year credit period and short placed-in-service deadline for SIF facilities have had a negative impact on SIF producers' ability to attract the outside investment needed to finance SIF projects. This negative impact has been compounded by the economic conditions that have prevailed since the enactment of the credit. SIF projects typically involve lengthy negotiations to implement the transaction structure necessary to claim the SIF credit, address environmental considerations, and negotiate the relevant economic terms. This in turn effectively reduced the one-year credit period to a lesser period for certain projects. The short time period to place projects in service-- slightly over one year after the enactment of the credit--meant that there was too little time to get projects up and running. For these reasons, the intended subsidy of the SIF credit did not operate as designed and the extension of the credit--from one year to at least two years--and the extension of the placed-in-service deadline--from December 31, 2009 to December 31, 2010--are needed.

Included in the legislation I cosponsored is an important clarification on an issue that has slowed negotiations with respect to SIF projects. I very much hope that the final extenders package will include this and other clarifications. It is expected that, for the convenience of the parties and for environmental safety, facilities producing SIF will typically be located on land leased from a steel company or other owner of a coking operation. Such a lessor will not be treated as having an ownership interest in the SIF facility under the clarification because it leases land and related facilities, sells coal waste sludge or coal feedstock, and/or buys SIF so long as such person's entitlement to rent and/or other net payments is measured by a fixed dollar amount or a fixed dollar amount per ton, or otherwise not determined by reference to the profit or loss of the facility. Similarly, a licensor of technology will not be treated as having an ownership interest in the SIF facility because it is entitled to a royalty and/or other payment that is a fixed amount per ton or otherwise not determined by reference to the profit or loss of the facility. Such arrangements may also cause facilities that produce SIF to operate at a loss before the credit is taken into account. However, it is intended that the occurrence of such a ``pre-tax loss'' will not affect entitlement to this credit, regardless of whether such ``pre-tax loss'' is caused by the terms of the lease, license, supply or sales contracts between the parties. To that end, the bill provides necessary flexibility for varying circumstances of ownership interests and clarifies that the existence of such arrangements will not prevent the equity owner of a facility from receiving tax credits for its sales of SIF. This amendment would provide greater tax certainty to potential investors in SIF projects.

SIF is typically produced at facilities that are located on the premises of coke plants that are owned by integrated steel companies that are unrelated to the SIF producers. The SIF production facility is situated on or near conveyor belts that may be leased from the integrated steel company and production of SIF may occur while coal-- and coal blended with petroleum coke--is transported on the conveyor belts. SIF producers may purchase coal from the integrated steel producer, taking title and having risk of loss while such coal is transported on the conveyor belt.

The bill provides a safe harbor that establishes that the SIF producer shall be treated as the producer and seller of SIF that it manufactures from coal to which it has taken title. The bill further clarifies that the sale of SIF shall not fail to qualify as a sale to an unrelated party for purposes of the SIF credit solely because the sale is to a party that is also a ground lessor, supplier, and/or customer.

Our bill also establishes that SIF may also be made using coal or coal that is mixed with some petroleum coke or other coke feedstock. Such ``pet coke'' has traditionally been used by steel companies/coke operators in a blend with coal as a feedstock for coke. Steel companies also have explored and presently contemplate the use of other coke feedstocks to manufacture SIF. The bill provides that the use of pet coke or other coke feedstocks in the production of SIF does not invalidate or otherwise reduce the credit.

The steel industry is still prominent in my district in Pittsburgh and I'm hopeful that SIF projects will expand our domestic energy resources by using what would otherwise be a hazardous waste of the coking process in a fuel product. The availability of the tax credit will attract outside investment to the steel and coke production industries and promote job growth in the domestic steel production industry and in related industries that service the steel and coke production industries. The extension of the SIF credit will spur the investment of millions of dollars that will create hundreds of new jobs--in construction and processing--and maintain other jobs in the domestic steel industry, in Pittsburgh and around the country. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and hope the Senate will extend this credit and make these much needed technical corrections.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I rise to honor the memory of my mentor and my dear friend, Congressman Jack Murtha. This is a tough day for all of us in the Pennsylvania delegation. Our State has lost its 800-pound gorilla and our dear, dear friend.

Jack Murtha personified the people of western Pennsylvania, tough, hardworking, salt of the Earth. He loved his family. They always came first, his beautiful wife, Joyce, to whom he was married for over 50 years, his three children, his grandchildren. Family always came first to Jack Murtha.

He loved his country, and he most especially loved the men and women who wore the uniform of the United States of America. He was their champion. There wasn't any Member in this body who fought harder for those troops than Jack Murtha did.

He loved this institution too. I remember he especially was helpful to new Members. When I got elected in 1994, Jack took me under his wing and one day he sat me right back there in the Pennsylvania Corner, right next to his chair, and he said, I am going to give you two pieces of advice. He says, number one, sit here on the floor and learn the rules and the procedure, because if you master the rules and the procedure of the House, someday you're going to get a chance to offer a bill, and the people that understand the rules will always win.

He said, secondly, find out what you are passionate about and be the best person you can be in that field. Be the person that other people come to and ask for advice on that issue.

I never forgot that advice. Sixteen years later, every day, we still come over to that corner, and those of us who were smart enough would come over there to seek Jack's counsel. He didn't just do it for the members of the Pennsylvania delegation, he did it for anyone who was smart enough to come back there and introduce themselves to Jack and seek his counsel. It didn't matter what their party affiliation was either.

Much has been said about Jack's ability to work across the aisle. He truly did. When he chaired the Defense appropriations committee, it didn't matter to him what your party was. What mattered to him is that you had something that was going to be good for the troops and good for the country, and if you had a good idea, Jack was willing to help you turn that idea into reality.

When you think about the appropriation bills and how long it takes us sometimes to pass bills and how long that we go sometimes without passing bills and have to throw them in an omnibus at the end of the year, there was always one bill that we never had a problem passing. I can't remember in the 16 years that I have been here in the House of Representatives it ever taking more than 10 minutes to pass the Defense appropriations bill. Jack just had it all worked out from the beginning, and he worked it out with both sides. That was the beauty of it.

You know, it was said that when Jack wasn't in the majority anymore and not the chairman of the committee, it was hard to tell who was the chairman of the committee, because Jack and his good friend, Bill Young, they worked together as a team. They were both the Chairs of the committee every year, regardless of what party was in control. It was his dear friend, and it was a pleasure to see those two work.

To sit on these opposite ends, we hear so much rancor in America today about the division in our country and the division here in the House of Representatives, how Democrats and Republicans can't work together. These two gentlemen worked together their entire careers. They were an example for the rest of us to follow.

Jack Murtha is not with us anymore. It's hard to imagine coming to the Pennsylvania Corner, and I think the toughest thing for all of us this week was to stand in that corner and see that chair empty and know that our friend wasn't coming in. It's going to take us a while for that to sink in that it's really happened, but one thing lives on. Jack would want us to move forward. Jack wouldn't want us to spend a lot of time dwelling about him or how we feel because he is gone.

Jack would want us to get back to work. He would want to make sure that we were working for this country and for our districts. He always told every Member that came over there, vote your district first. Regardless of what anybody tells you on this floor, you vote your district. I watched Jack Murtha chase some of the leadership of our party back from Pennsylvania Corner when they were trying to make some of our members not vote their districts. Jack made sure that that didn't happen.

Jack, we're going to miss you. You've been a great teacher. To those of us in the Pennsylvania delegation, you were a great friend, to many of us a father figure. We stand here today to honor your memory and to pledge to you that we will continue to work hard in your memory and make sure that the people of western Pennsylvania and the great State of Pennsylvania continue the tradition that you set for all of us, the example that you set for this delegation.

To his family, our deepest sympathies. Jack Murtha, Godspeed, God bless.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to inform my colleagues of an upcoming landmark event in Pennsylvania's 14th Congressional District-- the 140th anniversary of Chatham University, one of the oldest women's colleges in the country.

On December 11, 1869, the Pennsylvania Female College was founded in the City of Pittsburgh by the Reverend William Trimble Beatty, the founder and pastor of the Shady Side Presbyterian Church. The college was originally housed in the Berry mansion on Woodland Road in Pittsburgh's Shadyside neighborhood. The college's original mission was to provide educational opportunities for women of comparable quality to those available at that time at the best colleges for men.

Chatham University is one of the outstanding institutions of higher learning that call the city of Pittsburgh home. For the past 140 years, this school has been committed to providing a high-quality education to young women. Chatham's motto is ``Filiae nostrae sicut antarii lapides''--``That our daughters may be as cornerstones, polished after the similitude of a palace''--and for well over a century, the faculty and staff of this respected institution have labored hard to live up to that standard. Graduates have gone on to leadership roles in business, government, and academia locally and across the country. Chatham's most famous graduate so far is probably Rachel Carson, of the class of 1929--the individual almost single-handedly responsible for the birth of the environmental movement in this country.

Over the last 140 years, a number of traditions have become an important part of the school's identity--the Opening Convocation, the passing of the class colors from graduating seniors to the incoming first years, the song contest, May Day activities, and the Closing Convocation, to name a few. Needless to say, many alumnae retain treasured memories of these traditions for the rest of their lives--and while many wonderful traditions have been established and preserved, the school has changed and grown as well.

In 1890, the Pennsylvania Female College was renamed the Pennsylvania College for Women. Over the years, the student body grew and the school expanded into the buildings and grounds of several adjacent mansions, including those previously owned by Andrew Mellon, Edward Stanton Fickes, James Rea, and George M. Laughlin, Jr.

In 1955, the Pennsylvania College for Women was renamed Chatham College, in honor of William Pitt, the Elder--the first Earl of Chatham, the statesman who led Great Britain to victory in the Seven Years' War, and the man for whom Pittsburgh was named.

In 1992, Dr. Esther Barazzone became the school's 16th President, and under her leadership, the school has undergone substantial growth. New construction was undertaken, coeducational graduate programs were established, and the school's endowment was increased substantially.

On April 23, 2007, the school was granted university status by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, and it officially changed its name to Chatham University a year later on May 1st, 2008.

Today, the university is home to three colleges. Chatham College for Women continues the school's original mission of providing a high- quality undergraduate education for women. The College for Continuing and Professional Studies offers a number of certificate, masters, and doctoral programs, and on-line degree programs were begun in 2005. The College for Graduate Studies offers masters' and doctoral programs for both women and men in more than 20 fields, including art, architecture, business, health sciences, teaching, and creative writing. In 2007, Chatham University's Creative Writing M.F.A. program was singled out by The Atlantic Monthly as one of the top five innovative and unique programs in the country. Today, Chatham has more than 2,200 students enrolled. The university is home to several outreach centers as well, including the Center for Women's Entrepreneurship, the Pennsylvania Center for Women, Politics, and Public Policy, the Rachel Carson Institute, and the Pittsburgh Teachers Institute.

In 2008, Chatham University expanded dramatically to accommodate the growth in a number of academic programs.

On May 1, 2008, the Eden Hall Foundation gave Chatham University the Eden Hall Farm in Gibsonia, a suburban municipality near the city of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County. This 400-acre farm had been the summer home of philanthropist and H.J. Heinz Company Vice President Sebastian Mueller in the early 1900s. At Mr. Mueller's death in 1938, his entire estate, including Eden Hall Farm, was committed in his will to benefiting women. For the next 70 years, it was operated as a vacation and respite destination for the H.J. Heinz Company's working women. The Eden Hall Foundation was established in 1983 to further Mr. Mueller's goals of supporting other charitable efforts.

Chatham University's Eden Hall Farm Campus now is home to a number of educational, environmental, women's leadership, and community programs. It also provides a convenient campus for serving Chatham University certificate and degree program students who live in the suburban communities north of Pittsburgh as well as young participants in the school's Summer Music and Arts Day Camp.

In September of 2008, Chatham purchased a building in Pittsburgh's East Liberty neighborhood to hold its architecture and health science programs. The new facility is less than a mile from the university's main campus in nearby Shady Side. Establishment of this new facility, named Chatham Eastside, both benefited from and contributed to community efforts to redevelop and revitalize East Liberty.

Madam Speaker, Chatham University has grown from a college of 100 undergraduate students 140 years ago to a university with more than 2,000 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students today. It is a highly respected institution of higher learning that has faithfully carried out its mission of educating young women and promoting women's leadership for nearly 150 years. I want to congratulate the faculty, staff, students, alumnae, and friends and supporters of Chatham University on the 140th anniversary of its founding, to express the appreciation and deep respect that the residents of Pennsylvania have for this venerable local institution, and to wish Chatham University continued success in the years to come.

Mr. Speaker, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are trying to scare our seniors. They are telling tall tales, saying that passing health care reform will destroy Medicare.

For Americans watching this debate, I want to make this clear: This bill will strengthen Medicare. My good friend from Michigan, John Dingell, helped write the law that created Medicare, and he authored this health care reform bill we will vote on today.

This bill protects seniors and gives all Americans access to quality, affordable health insurance. This bill will start to close the Medicare prescription drug doughnut hole and ban insurance companies from dropping people for having the audacity to get sick. This bill makes sure that preventive services are free to seniors in Medicare and all Americans with insurance.

This bill extends the Medicare's solvency by at least 5 years, it pays for itself and it will reduce the national debt. Finally, this bill is endorsed by doctors, nurses, patients, the Autism Society of America and the AARP.

Well, I guess all day we're going to hear from the party of ``no,'' no health care plan, no ideas for America.

To the people who have lost their jobs and can't get health insurance because the insurance companies said, No, you have a preexisting condition, they say ``no.'' Well, our party has an answer for that. Our health care plan will stop that.

For people in this country who have filed bankruptcy because insurance companies stopped paying on their chronic conditions, this party over here says ``no.'' Well, Democrats say ``yes.'' Our health care bill will cure that.

For our senior citizens who need help with their drugs and closing the doughnut hole, the party of ``no'' doesn't have a plan. This health care bill will help close the doughnut hole.

So I say to my friends over there, the negative nabobs of negativity, ``no'' is not a solution for America. Democrats have a plan that will cover all Americans and provide health care and reform this insurance industry that has abused so many people in this country.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to reintroduce the Pet Safety and Protection Act--legislation that I believe is essential to protect family pets, bring our nation's research policies into the 21st century, and end the unnecessary and illegal abuse of cats and dogs that's widespread in the Class B dealer system, which provides a number of animals to biomedical research labs.

Class B dealers are licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to acquire animals from ``random sources,'' including individuals who claim to have bred and raised the animals, but oftentimes haven't actually done so. Then the dogs and cats are sold to labs across the country that conduct important biomedical research.

Most scientists agree that animals with certain genetic characteristics or medical conditions are necessary for some types of medical research. So-called random sources are often the best sources for such animals. Unfortunately, the Class B dealer system that was set up to address this need has been plagued by widespread and flagrant violations of the Animal Welfare Act--including complaints that family pets have been swept up and sent to labs and used in biomedical research.

While USDA has tried to monitor Class B dealers and make sure these laws are followed, it simply has never had the resources to ensure the dealers' compliance. USDA's efforts, have, however, resulted in a number of investigations that forced many bad dealers out of the business. Today, 7 of the 10 remaining licensed Class B dealers are being investigated for alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act. An additional dealer has had his license suspended for 5 years.

That record should give anyone an idea of the magnitude of the problems that exist in the current Class B dealer program. If anyone still doubts the need for action, I urge them to watch a 2006 HB0 program documenting in graphic, disturbing detail the inhumane and illegal treatment of animals by Class B dealers. This remarkable documentary contains video footage shot undercover in a Class B dealer's facility. Among the abuses documented in this film are overcrowded cages, rotten food, food contaminated with feces, frozen drinking water, dogs with serious untreated injuries and diseases, and live dogs caged with the carcasses of dead dogs. This investigation also documented the beating, strangulation, and shooting of dogs by a Class B dealer.

I have been working for a number of years to pass legislation that would change the way animals with random source characteristics are acquired for biomedical research. This legislation, the Pet Safety and Protection Act, would prohibit the sale of dogs and cats by Class B dealers for experimentation. Its goal is to stop the illegal supply of dogs and cats to laboratories--as was intended when the Animal Welfare Act was first adopted by Congress in 1966. The Pet Safety and Protection Act also provides an alternative to Class B dealers for acquiring such animals. Research labs could acquire them from Class A dealers, from certain publicly owned and operated animal pounds, and through donations from people who have owned the animal for at least a year. I believe that this law would end the abuses running rampant in the Class B dealer system and make the process for acquiring animals necessary for medical research far more humane.

This legislation has the strong support of the Animal Welfare Institute and the Humane Society of the United States.

In previous years, this bill has been derailed by concerns that it might prevent or delay life-saving biomedical research. Consequently, the 110th Congress directed the National Academies to examine the issue and determine whether the Class B dealer system should be continued. Earlier this summer, the National Academies released its report on the Class B dealer system. The National Academies concluded that:

Although random source dogs and cats represent a very small

percentage of animals used in biomedical research, this small

number is not commensurate with their potential value, and it

is desirable to assure continued access to animals with

random source qualities. This access can be accomplished with

existing alternative mechanisms other than Class B dealers

and can be assured with additional effort. The Committee thus

determined that Class B dealers are not necessary for

supplying dogs and cats for NIH-funded research.

I believe that the National Academies study puts to rest any remaining concerns about the desirability of eliminating the Class B dealer system.

In closing, Madam Speaker, let me reiterate my belief that enactment of the Pet Safety and Protection Act is necessary to end the inhumane and illegal treatment of animals acquired and sold by Class B dealers, protect families' pets from being used for biomedical research without their permission, and achieve those goals without hindering essential biomedical research. I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this long overdue legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise to observe the 85th anniversary of the Church of the Nativity of the Theokotos, a Serbian Orthodox Church in Clairton, Pennsylvania.

For those of us who may be unfamiliar with Orthodox Christianity, Theokotos is Greek for ``God-Bearer'' or ``one who gives birth to God,'' and it is the Greek title for Mary, the mother of Jesus. Consequently, the Church of the Nativity of the Theokotos is also sometimes referred to as St. Mary's Serbian Orthodox Church.

Serbs began settling in southwestern Pennsylvania in large numbers about 100 years ago. Until they obtained their own church, the Serbs in Clairton attended services as the Serbian Orthodox Church in McKeesport. But once the number of Serbian families in Clairton exceeded 40, they established their own parish and began working to establish their own church. In 1924, the nascent congregation purchased a Presbyterian church, and moved it to its current location in the 500 block of Third Street in Clairton. Work on the church was completed and it was consecrated 2 years later.

Soon Serbian Orthodox Christians from the nearly communities of Elizabeth, Monongahela, and further up the Monongahela River came to worship at the church and eventually the parish came to include these communities as well.

The church hall was substantially expanded in 1941, and in 1945, the parish purchased a rectory across the street.

On September 19, the congregation will celebrate the 85th anniversary of the church and the Slava celebration, or feast day of their patron saint, with a Holy Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at 10 am.

This will be a bittersweet occasion as it will be the last such celebration at the Church of the Nativity of the Theokotos. The congregation has shrunken from 600 people 50 years ago to less than 50 today, making it the smallest parish in the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Eastern America. The church is closing after the last liturgy there on Sunday, September 27, 2009, bringing to a close nearly a century of serving as a place of worship and community fixture for the Serbian Orthodox faithful in Clairton and the surrounding communities.

I want to recognize this occasion by congratulating the congregation and friends of the Church of the Nativity of the Theokotos on 85 years of the Serbian Orthodox community of the Mon Valley.

Madam Speaker, I rise to observe the 40th anniversary of Focus On Renewal, a community service organization serving the municipalities of Stowe Township and McKees Rocks in Pennsylvania's 14th Congressional District.

Forty years ago, Father Don Fisher and Sister Paulette Honeygosky laid the foundation for Focus On Renewal. Together, they envisioned an organization made up of individuals who believed that every person must be treated with dignity.

In 1975, Father Regis Ryan assumed the leadership at Focus On Renewal. He was amazed by all the service activities that had been initiated during the first six years of Focus On Renewal. For instance, a pediatric health center had opened in the basement of a storefront at 610 Chartiers Avenue. Within that small facility, lunch was served five days a week; a dental hygienist provided preventive oral care; books were acquired and distributed as a rudimentary library was forming; crisis care needs were addressed on a daily basis; community meetings were called; and one simple, donated van was used to transport elderly folks to medical appointments.

Initially, Father Ryan believed he would remain only a few years, but everyone is glad that didn't happen. Instead, he has become known in the Sto-Rox community as a loving, generous and respectful leader.

What started as a small storefront serving the social service and health needs of the community has become a major non-profit agency. Today, Focus On Renewal operates more than a dozen programs from various sites throughout Allegheny County, providing comprehensive health services, early childhood and adult education programs, transportation services, a library, an arts center, a credit union, employment and training classes, and a broad range of social services.

Countless members of staff, boards, administration and volunteers have spent the last 40 years creating and fostering the community of care into which Focus On Renewal has evolved. Beyond the many human services, which have touched thousands of lives, Focus On Renewal has offered employment to hundreds of men and women, some of whom have served for more than 30 years.

Focus On Renewal is like the weaving of a great patchwork quilt, bits and pieces old and new, held together with common threads, worked by many hands, bordered with love, and blanketing the community with its warmth.

I want to thank Father Ryan and everyone at Focus On Renewal for the important services they have provided the Sto-Rox community over the last 40 years and wish them well as they continue to serve this community in the same exemplary fashion in the coming years.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to oppose the amendment.

The goal of this project is to promote partnerships between various biotech industries and encourage growth in biosciences.

Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse is a private-public partnership that provides entrepreneurial life science enterprises in Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania with the resources and tools they need to make global advances in research and patient care.

Both Pittsburgh and Cleveland are hubs of innovation and entrepreneurship. There are currently 800 companies in the biosciences sector employing more than 25,000 people in this tech belt region. This project will foster growth in the biotech sector by linking companies between the two cities.

Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse has worked with companies in over 20 counties throughout western Pennsylvania since its inception in 2001. Due to their extraordinary work, 14.5 million has been committed in over 60 companies which have leveraged over $300 million in additional funding from venture capitalists and angel investors. 228 companies have been launched or grown using Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse services. Over 300 jobs have been created or retained in the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse-invested companies.

The Tech Belt Biosciences Initiative takes these activities to the next level by creating, with its counterpart in Cleveland, an organization called BioEnterprise. Together, Pittsburgh and Cleveland pull in $1 billion in combined NIH research dollars which can spin off hundreds of companies and, in turn, create jobs.

The Tech Belt Biosciences Initiative is designed to maximize this tremendous opportunity to improve public health, generate economic growth in a region in need of jobs, and ultimately make the region an international destination for biosciences and high-tech innovation. Promoting such growth and development not only benefits the State of Ohio, but the State of Pennsylvania and the entire country as a whole.

It's now my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to my friend from Pittsburgh (Mr. Altmire).

Mr. Chairman, I would like to yield any remaining time to our friend and colleague from Ohio, Mr. Ryan.

Madam Speaker, today we have a historic opportunity to create thousands of clean-energy jobs, to secure this country's energy future, and to give our kids and grandkids a brighter, cleaner planet. Madam Speaker, we do that while protecting our basic industries like steel, aluminum, cement, and our ratepayers, both residential, commercial and industrial.

I was proud to work on this committee with my friend and colleague Jay Inslee to develop a formula that looks at our carbon intensive industries like steel, that have trade pressures, and level the playing field for them so that we don't lose jobs. This bill wasn't going to cause any jobs to be lost. This is a job-creating bill, and you don't need to take my word for it.

I have a letter from the international president of the steelworkers union--people whose very jobs would be on the line if we didn't get this right--who endorses this bill, who says this bill will create more jobs for steelworkers in Pittsburgh.

And we do that by rewarding efficiencies. We say to our carbon- intensive industries, Be average in your sector. We will make you whole for the cost of this program.

For those industries that invest and become more efficient, we give them more rewards. We encourage efficiency in our markets at the same time, giving them a level playing field with their competitors. We do the same thing in the electricity markets.

Every one of my constituents get their electricity from coal. We protect those ratepayers. Thirty-five percent of the allocations in this bill go towards protecting residential, commercial and industrial ratepayers. This is not a job loser. This is not a rate hike for consumers; $173 a year for the average family in America as a result of this bill. That's a small price to pay for a cleaner planet and more jobs for America.

Mr. Chairman, as you know, last night was the 48th annual Roll Call congressional baseball game. The real winners last night were the Washington Boys & Girls Club and the Washington Literacy Council, as we were able to raise over $100,000 for those charities.

Mr. Chairman, it's been 9 long years since the coveted Roll Call trophy was able to sit on this desk. And I want to, first of all, offer my congratulations to our Republican teammates. John Shimkus pitched a fantastic game. He's a real gamer. They fought long and hard, but this year was our year.

I'm happy to announce that the Democrats won the game 15-10. Joe Baca, at the age of 62, pitched a complete game, gave up just eight hits, and Bart Stupak was tremendous in the field, and Tim Bishop was tremendous at the bat. I want to congratulate and thank all of the players on the Democratic team for their hard work and this accomplishment.

And I want to yield the floor to my good friend, Joe Barton.

If we get two more players, we're going to play the Nationals next year.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Announcement by the Chair

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the artistic ability of a young woman from my Congressional District, Steph Goodrow of West Mifflin Area High School. Ms. Goodrow is the winner of the 2009 14th Congressional District of Pennsylvania's High School Art Competition, ``An Artistic Discovery.'' Ms. Goodrow's artwork, a chalk, pastel, and charcoal composition entitled ``A Walk,'' was selected from a number of outstanding entries to this year's competition.

In fact, fifty-five works from twelve different schools in Pennsylvania's 14th Congressional District were submitted to our panel of respected local artists. It's a real tribute to her skill and vision that her work was chosen as the winner of this year's competition. I am certain that Ms. Goodrow's family is proud of her artistic talents and this impressive accomplishment.

Ms. Goodrow's artwork will represent the 14th Congressional District of Pennsylvania in the national exhibit of high school students' artwork that will be displayed in the United States Capitol over the coming year. I encourage my colleagues as well as any visitor to Capitol Hill to view Ms. Goodrow's artwork, along with the winning entries from the high school art contests held in other Congressional Districts, that will be on display in the Capitol tunnel. It is amazing to walk through this corridor and see the interpretation of life through the eyes of these young artists from all across our country.

I would like to recognize all of the participants in this year's 14th Congressional District High School Art Competition, ``An Artistic Discovery:'' from Brashear High School, Nour Qutyan; from the Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Sarah Axtell, George Cessna, Dana Laskowski, and Nicolette Santercangelo; from Carlynton High School, Christina Chiccitt; from Carrick High School, Jessica Dietz, Kristin May, Kaci Scheidter, and Mandy Tice; from Montour High School, Dominique Dabecco, Diane Elbel, and Hilary Wirkowski; from Northgate High School, Linzie Bussard, Crystal Flora, Alicia Patak, and James Silay; from Penn Hills High School, Julian McClain Hubbard, Carly Otte, Chloe Regan, Lauren Tucci, Sidney Turba, and Chloe Weiss; from South Allegheny High School, Angelia Bianchi- Faiello, Rhett Bilec, Bre Graham, Hollah Brielle Graham, Mollie K. Kish, and Brett Nolfi; from Taylor-Allderdice High School, Shelby Gitchel, Joseph Godovshik, Jasmine Manguel, Juan Melena-Robles, Casey Snyder, and Yajie Yang; from West Mifflin Area High School, Steph Goodrow, Elyse M. Larouere, Rachel Lynn Playso, and James Vautier; from the Wilson Christian Academy, Elora Boyd; and from Woodland Hills High School, Candace Davis, Alessandra DeChancie, Elijah Johnson, Sarah Morgan, Maddy Moyta, and Sara Savage.

I would like to thank these impressive young artists for allowing us to share and celebrate their talents, imagination, and creativity. The efforts of these students in expressing themselves in a powerful and positive manner are no less than spectacular.

I hope that all of these individuals continue to utilize their artistic talents, and I wish them all the best of luck in their future endeavors.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating the Clairton Bears on a stellar high school football season.

For the first time in their school's history, the Bears reached the State championship game. This accomplishment topped an undefeated regular season and a WPIAL title.

These great accomplishments were the result of fantastic coaching and consistently outstanding performances by the team's staff and players.

The staff consisted of head coach Tom Nola and assistant coaches Mike LeDonne, Demonje Rosser, Remondo Williams, Tim Borkowski, John DeMarco, Tony St. Angelo, Tony Ferrare, and Wayne Wade.

The players consisted of 9 seniors--Malcolm Ford, Troy Webb, Andrew Currington, CJ Hammonds, Kailon Lyons, Eyan Johnson, Lance Meade, David Spence, and Taylor Wright as well as underclassmen Kevin Weatherspoon, Deontae Howard, Josh Page, Brandon Small, Eddie Ball, Remondo Williams, Desimon Green, Trenton Coles, Julian McLean, Bishop Neal, Geron Johnson, Devante Dockery, Kevin Poindexter, Devante Gardlock, Marcus Nash, Antwon Thompson, Brian Boyd, Carvan Thompson, Donzel Daniels, Chanze James, Keith Craven, Devonte Doss, Marquis Norris, Shawn Thomas, Ezekial Williams, and Wesley Sutton. The hard work, dedication, and teamwork these young men displayed throughout the season produced a once in a lifetime opportunity for the graduating seniors to play in the big game before leaving their high school.

Pittsburgh once again has lived up to its name as the ``City of Champions'' producing a great team like the Clairton Bears. I wish the Bears and their program success in the seasons to follow and congratulate them once again on a fantastic season.