Floor Statements

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

Mr. Chairman, I want to start off by saying to my good friend the chairman that I plan to withdraw the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, my good friend and colleague Tim Murphy and I are offering this bipartisan amendment that directs the Department of Commerce, the United States Trade Representative, and the United States International Trade Commission to report to Congress on the sanctions they can bring against companies that benefit from information acquired by hacking into private computers in the United States.

The Justice Department recently indicted five Chinese military officers for stealing commercially valuable information from a number of companies in the United States. These indictments highlight what we have known for a long time: namely, that China and governments around the world are hacking into computers in the United States and using that information they steal for their own economic advantage.

These hackers have targeted the offices of Westinghouse, U.S. Steel, the United Steel Workers Union, Alcoa, Allegheny Technologies, and SolarWorld, five of which are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The information they stole helped Chinese companies in negotiations or trade disputes with each of the targeted organizations. While these indictments are the first of their kind, businesses in the United States have been facing cyber attacks like this for years.

I would like to think that these cyber spies will be prosecuted and imprisoned for their actions at some point, but that won't do anything to reverse the damage that they have done. Congress needs to focus right now--today--on protecting the American workers and businesses who face these attacks every day.

I would urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support our amendment and begin taking the necessary measures to counter cyber espionage against American workers and businesses. This amendment would take the first step by determining whether the U.S. government has the tools it needs to do just that.

Let's send a clear message to bad actors around the world that the United States has the power and the will to punish those that engage in criminal trade practices.

Mr. Chairman, at this time I yield to my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy).

Reclaiming my time, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank Chairman Wolf for his efforts and support. Hopefully, we can work together to achieve the goals of this amendment with language in the conference report or some other means.

I yield to the gentleman from Virginia.

Reclaiming my time, I thank the chairman, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment.

Mr. Speaker, today marks the second annual Childhood Apraxia of Speech Day, during which we will raise national awareness about Childhood Apraxia of Speech, a particularly difficult, persistent, and severe speech and communication disorder in youngsters.

Today I want to recognize the Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America (CASANA), whose mission is to strengthen the support systems in the lives of children with apraxia. CASANA offers information and support related to CAS on its website, www.apraxiakids.org. Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) causes children to have extreme difficulty planning and producing the precise, highly refined and specific series of movements of the tongue, lips, jaw, and palate that are necessary for the production of proper speech. It is among the most severe of speech and communication problems in children.

While the act of learning to speak comes effortlessly to most children, those with apraxia endure an incredible and lengthy struggle. Although not life threatening it is life altering as families are left to cope with the emotional, physical, and financial challenges of having a child diagnosed with CAS. Additionally, without appropriate intervention, children with CAS are at high risk for secondary impacts in literacy and other school-related skills.

We encourage states, insurance providers, and schools to recognize the critical need to provide adequate speech therapy and other services so that the impact of this disorder can be minimized and so that affected children can grow into productive, contributing adult citizens.

Every child should be afforded their best opportunity to develop speech. With early intervention and appropriate therapy, most children with CAS will learn to communicate with their very own voices. These children, as well as their families, deserve our highest respect for their effort, determination and resilience in the face of such obstacles.

Let's use Childhood Apraxia Day to raise awareness about CAS and support the goals of Better Hearing and Speech Month.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the Girls of Steel robotics team on winning the Engineering Inspiration Award at the 2014 Pittsburgh Regional F.I.R.S.T. Robotics Competition.

This is the third year in a row in which they have won this prestigious award, which goes to the team that does the most to increase appreciation for engineering in its community. I think that the remarkable accomplishment of winning this award three years running speaks volumes about the dedication these young women have to engineering as well as their considerable talent.

The Girls of Steel also won the Entrepreneurship Award at both the Buckeye Regional and the Greater Pittsburgh Regional competitions. This award recognizes a team that developed the best business plan to identify, manage, and accomplish its objectives.

F.I.R.S.T., which stands for ``For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,'' is an organization dedicated to engaging our students in the vital fields of science, technology, math, and engineering (STEM). Hundreds of thousands of students gain practical, team-based engineering experiences through F.I.R.S.T. every year.

As a founder and co-chair of the Congressional Robotics Caucus, I believe competitions like these are incredible tools for helping our young people explore potential careers in STEM. I've witnessed firsthand the incredible economic growth and development that these fields can bring in my home district, and I strongly believe that these fields are crucial to our Nation's future prosperity. For encouraging young people in these pursuits, I want to commend organizations like F.I.R.S.T. for their important work. The F.I.R.S.T. Robotics Competition allows students to apply creativity and critical thinking in the demanding and competitive field of robotics, all while instilling a strong sense of pride in participants.

Thirty-nine young women from high schools located in and around the Pittsburgh area are members of this year's Girls of Steel, and in recognition of their hard work, intelligence, and teamwork, I would like to mention each of these inspiring ladies by name. They are Isabella Arnone, Sonia Appasamy, Arushi Bandi, Elizabeth Bianchini, Grace Brueggman, Abbey Ceraso, Rachel Cherian, Claudia Contreras, Laurel Donatelli, Samantha Eppinger, Clarisa Espinoza-Delgado, Mackenzie Ferris, Naoka Gunawardena, Heather Harrington, Rosanne Harrison, Sydney Hnat, Shoko Kanemoto, Campbell Konrad, Elizabeth Kysel, Jisue Lee, Sylvia Lee, Sophia Lee, Cheyenne Meyers, Gigi Nieson, Anne Kailin Northam, Maddie Oppelt, Simran Parwani, Korryn Resetar, Rachel Round, Kaitlyn Schaffer, Kriti Shah, Grace Schneider, Katie Shreve, Makalya Shreve, Lynn Urbina, Molly Urbina, Becca Volk, Alayna Yates, and Natalie Young.

I would also like to mention that that two of the Girls of Steel, Simran Parwani of Fox Chapel High School and Sylvie Lee from Shady Side Academy, were awarded the prestigious F.I.R.S.T. Dean's List Award. This award highlights and celebrates exemplary student leaders who demonstrate and embody F.I.R.S.T.'s ideals.

Additionally, I want to convey my sincere appreciation to the staff of Carnegie Mellon University's Field Robotics Center, who have mentored the Girls of Steel since 2010. Because of their efforts, more young women can experience real-world technological challenges and learn from some of the Nation's best at solving these problems. These experiences will certainly benefit these young women in the future.

I look forward to hearing about their progress as they advance to the F.I.R.S.T. Championship in St. Louis--the final and largest competition of its kind. This will be their fourth trip in four years and they will be competing against top teams from all over the world. I congratulate the Girls of Steel and wish them all continued success in their academic and professional endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of my constituents who is truly an American hero.

Mr. Robert Harbula of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, fought bravely as a U.S. Marine in the Korean War--including the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Private First Class Harbula served in G Company of the Third Battalion of the First Marine Regiment, part of the First Marine Division, in the Korean War. His unit was referred to initially as ``George Company'' and then, later, after Chosin Reservoir, as ``Bloody George.''

Private First Class Bob Harbula was assigned to the Marine unit guarding Camp David, the Presidential retreat, when he served as an usher for the Washington, DC, premiere of ``Sands of Iwo Jima'' in January of 1950. After seeing the movie, he decided that he ought to get a more dangerous posting, so he volunteered for a marine raider unit several months later. Soon thereafter, he ended up in Camp Pendleton as part of the First Marine Division--and in August 1950, he found himself on a troopship headed for Japan with the First Marines as one of the early reinforcements for the hard-pressed UN forces in Korea. Mr. Harbula was part of the machine gun squad attached to G Company's First Platoon.

Korea had been occupied for 35 years by Japan until the end of World War II, at which point it was partitioned at the 38th Parallel. South Korea was occupied and protected by US forces. North Korea was occupied by the Soviet Union. UN plans to hold elections and unify the country were rejected by the Soviets, and a communist dictatorship was established in the north.

On June 25th, North Korean troops crossed the boundary separating North and South Korea, taking the ill-prepared South Korean Army by surprise and overwhelming it. Three days later, the North Korean army occupied Seoul, the South Korean capital. US troops from the Eighth Army based in Japan rushed to aid the South Koreans. They were thrown into battle piecemeal in a desperate effort to gain time for more reinforcements to arrive. South Korean troops and the US 24th Infantry Division fought the North Korean troops relentlessly, inflicting substantial casualties, but they were repeatedly defeated by superior numbers and forced to retreat. By August, US and South Korean forces had been pushed back to a fragile perimeter around the port city of Pusan in the southwest corner of the Korean peninsula. Despite repeated North Korean attacks, the Pusan Perimeter held and bled the North Koreans dry.

General Douglas MacArthur, commander of US forces in the region, decided to launch a major amphibious landing deep in the North Korean army's rear at the port city of Inchon on Korea's west coast. Mr. Harbula's unit was in the first wave of the assault craft, which landed under heavy fire on September 15th. From that moment on, George Company was in nearly constant combat as US forces captured Inchon and fought their way into Seoul, where the fighting often deteriorated into vicious house-to-house combat. On the night of September 25th, George Company--heavily outnumbered--stopped a major North Korean counterattack by tanks, self-propelled artillery, and hundreds of men along Seoul's Ma Po Boulevard. Mr. Harbula and his section did what they could, firing a machine gun non-stop at the lead tank. With artillery support, George Company withstood and repelled the attack-- but at a terrible cost.

The Inchon landing and the liberation of Seoul caused the weakened and over-extended North Korean forces in the south to collapse and beat a panicked retreat northward. The US Eighth Army began pressing northward in aggressive pursuit along Korea's west coast. The X Corps, which included the First Marine Division, was pulled out of the line and loaded onto amphibious transport ships. They sailed around the Korean Peninsula and disembarked at the end of October in the port of Wonsan on North Korea's southeastern coast, which had already been secured by South Korean units.

George Company's first assignment after landing at Wonsan was holding a village called Majon-ni several miles inland at the junction of roads leading to Seoul, Wonsan, and Pyongyang. On November 2nd, PFC Harbula's machine gun squad was helping to escort a re-supply convoy through a treacherous mountain gorge when it was ambushed. Bob Harbula provided cover, firing a .30 caliber machine gun from the hip, while the surviving trucks were carefully turned around on the one-lane, cliff- edged road and driven out of the ambush to Wonsan, where they reported to headquarters and requested a rescue mission for the remaining survivors.

George Company garrisoned Majon-ni for several weeks after the ambush. PFC Harbula took command of his 10-man machine gun squad after the sergeant who had been in charge was seriously wounded in the ambush. On November 14th, George Company moved north to the Hungnam- Chigyong region. That same day, a cold front moved into the region from Siberia, sending temperatures as low as -35 degrees each night. Such brutal weather would continue for the next two weeks, making weapons and equipment inoperable and causing thousands of injuries and deaths from frostbite and exposure over the course of the battle.

The rugged Taebaek Mountains that ran up the middle of the Korean peninsula divided the Eighth Army from X Corps as each force pushed north. On November 24th, MacArthur ordered the ``Home by Christmas'' offensive to conquer all of North Korea up to the Yalu River, which formed the boundary between North Korea and China. The Eighth Army was to push north, while the First Marine Division was to push west from the Chosin Reservoir, cut off a North Korean major supply line, and link up with the Eighth Army.

Unbeknownst to General MacArthur and his advisors, hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops had begun infiltrating into North Korea in mid-October. The General and his staff thought that there were only a few small Chinese units fighting in North Korea. In fact, Chinese troops were massing for attacks in both the east and west. In the east, the 9th Army Group of the Chinese ``People's Volunteer Army'' had encircled most of the Chosin Reservoir, a large man-made lake north of Wonsan and 65 miles northwest of the port city of Hungnam.

On November 25th, nearly two hundred thousand Chinese troops launched a surprise attack on the Eighth Army, defeating it resoundingly in the Battle of the Ch'ongchion River and sending it retreating southward in what came to be called ``the Big Bug-out.''

On November 27th, however, the First Marine Division's orders were still to attack northwestward. Most of the Division's combat troops, primarily thousands of Marines from the First Marine Division's 5th and 7th Regiments, were positioned around the village of Yudam-ni west of the reservoir. An understrength regimental combat team from the 7th Infantry Division held territory on the east side of the reservoir up through the village of Hudong-ni to Sinhung-ni. A winding narrow road led through the mountainous terrain from each village to the bottom of the lake, where they met in the village of Hagaru-ri, which was lightly defended by a hodgepodge of units from the First Marine Division, including a number of companies from George Company's First Marine Regiment. Essential supplies had been stockpiled at Hagaru-ri, and engineers were desperately trying to build a small airstrip when they weren't fighting off enemy attacks.

It was 14 miles of treacherous terrain from Yudam-ni to Hagaru-ni. To the east of the reservoir, it was a similar distance from Sinhung-

ni to Hagaru-ri. From there, the road wound 11 miles through more mountainous terrain to the town of Koto-ri, where the 1st Marine Regiment's headquarters was located--defended by the Regiment's Second Battalion--and then another 10 miles to Chinhung-ni, defended by First Battalion, First Marine Regiment. From there, it was another 37 miles to the port city of Hungnam. That one narrow road was the only way First Marine Division and the other units from X Corps could get out of the mountains and back to the coast.

Meanwhile, George Company was stuck somewhere in the rear echelons for lack of transportation.

On the night of November 27th, all hell broke loose. The 9th Army Group of the People's Volunteer Army attacked the X Corps forces on either side of the Chosin Reservoir and at various points along the road as far south as Koto-ri. Tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers attacked the outnumbered Americans' positions. The Marines at Yudam-ni were surrounded and cut off, as were the soldiers of the 7th Infantry's Regimental Combat Team 31 on the east side of the reservoir--and the Divisional headquarters and elements of the 1st Marine Regiment at Hagaru-ri.

On the morning of November 28th, George Company finally got some wheels. They were ordered into trucks and headed north, arriving in Koto-ri at nighfall.

That night, the Chinese launched a massive attack on Hagaru-ri. They almost succeeded in overwhelming the outnumbered Marines, who had thrown every able-bodied man who could fire a rifle into the front line--down to, and including, the cooks and truck drivers. When dawn came, the defenses had held, but Chinese forces occupied the strategic high ground--East Hill--and unless reinforcements arrived, it seemed inevitable that Hagaru-ri would fall and the units around the Chosin Reservoir would be doomed.

George Company's 200 men formed part of the 900-man ``Task Force Drysdale'' that was rapidly thrown together on the morning of November 29th in Koto-ri to reinforce Hagaru-ri. It took the column all day to fight their way up the 11 miles of road between Koto-ri and Hagaru-ri. They had to stop repeatedly to clear enemy roadblocks, and they were under fire the whole time from thousands of Chinese soldiers dug in on either side of the road. The route was subsequently given the name ``Hell Fire Valley.''

Late in the day, the rear of the convoy was stopped by a burning truck and surrounded by Chinese troops. Fighting through the night until their ammunition was nearly all gone, the surviving soldiers finally had no choice but to surrender.

The front of the column, consisting of the surviving tanks, George Company, and some of the Royal Marines pushed on and finally broke through to Hagaru-ri. Only a third of the men who set out that morning in Task Force Drysdale made it to Hagaru-ri, but the 300 soldiers and the tanks that made it through Hell Fire Valley at such a terrible cost significantly bolstered the town's defenses.

The next morning, November 30th, George Company was given the daunting mission of retaking East Hill. They slowly advanced up the hill, slipping and falling repeatedly on the ice and taking heavy rifle and machine gun fire. By the end of the day, they held the south end of the ridge, but the Chinese still held the center. George Company dug in as best they could, but the temperature that night dropped below -20 degrees and the ground was frozen hard. Private Harbula was forced to resort to piling dead Chinese soldiers around his machine gun like sand bags.

Once it was dark, Chinese forces counterattacked, charging down the hill several thousand strong. The men of George Company fought bravely--eventually hand-to-hand. Private Harbula's machine gun jammed, and his position was overrun by the enemy. An officer ordered the men to pull back. He remembers hitting one Chinese Soldier in the face with his helmet and firing his pistol at several others. As he slipped and slid back down the hill, he fell into a shell crater. In the crater, he found several dead Americans and one of his comrades, Richard Haller, still alive but wounded in both legs. Private Harbula carried Haller down the hill to safety, but he ruptured his Achilles tendon in the process. Private Harbula was out of the fight, but the surviving members of George Company fought on. Finally, near dawn on December 1st, the Chinese attack petered out.

December lst was something of a turning point. That day, the Marines in Yudam-ni began a break-out to the south. By nightfall, they had fought their way to Toktong Pass, halfway to Hagaru-ri. In addition, the engineers who had been working on the airstrip completed enough of the runway that C-47 transport planes could use it. That afternoon, planes started bringing in supplies and reinforcements and flying out the wounded.

There was bad news on December 1st as well, however. With half of the men in Regimental Combat Team 31 dead or wounded, its commander, Lieutenant Colonel Don Carlos Faith, ordered his troops to destroy any equipment they couldn't carry and attempt to break through to Hagaru- ri. As the column advanced, it was attacked constantly by thousands of Chinese soldiers on each side of the road to Hagaru-ri. As night fell, Lieutenant Colonel Faith was killed trying to take a roadblock and the column disintegrated. Many small groups of soldiers fled through the night and made it to the Hagaru-ri perimeter alive, but everyone who stayed with the convoy was killed.

Most of the First Division was now reunited in Hagaru-ri. The remaining able-bodied but exhausted members of George Company continued to defend the perimeter, moving to one end of the runway on December 5th and repulsing another large Chinese attack.

On December 6th, the First Marine Division began its breakout effort--or as its commanding officer General O.P. Smith put it, not so much retreating as attacking in a different direction. George Company fought its way back down Hell Fire Valley--but this time as part of a unit powerful enough to defend itself. They reached Koto-ri by the end of the next day. The retreat continued the following day with the 5th and 7th Regiments pushing ahead and the 1st Regiment and George Company acting as a rear guard. Finally, they reached the port of Hungnam, where an armada of ships evacuated a quarter of a million soldiers and civilians, as well as a great deal of equipment.

The ``advance in a different direction'' by the ``Chosin Few'' has become a legendary example of heroism, sacrifice, endurance, and suffering. Thousands of American soldiers rebuffed surprise attacks by overwhelming numbers of enemy forces and then conducted a 70-mile fighting retreat through treacherous mountain terrain in subfreezing weather.

George Company, now ``Bloody George,'' did their part, fighting their way into Hagaru-ri, up East Hill, and then--outnumbered 10 to 1-- holding their perimeter against determined enemy counterattack. Private First Class Bob Harbula served bravely in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir until he was injured.

Remarkably, several months later, Bob's brother, John, who was a Marine stationed in Norfolk, saw a Marine on crutches hitchhiking. John picked him up and they got to talking, and the Marine mentioned that he was at the Chosin Reservoir with G-3-1. John told his passenger that he had a brother who had also fought there with G-3-1. The hitchhiker asked John what his brother's name was, and when John told him that it was Bob Harbula, the Marine's face turned white and he said, ``that's the SOB that saved my life!'' John had given a lift to Richard Haller!

Chosin Reservoir didn't mark the end of Bloody George's or Bob Harbula's combat action in Korea by any means. Soon after, he was back in combat. On April 15th, 1951, he was promoted to Corporal and put in charge of 2 machine guns and 20 men at the start of Operation Ripper. He fought again with G Company in North Korea at the Hwachon Reservoir, where the First Marine Division was awarded its third Presidential Unit Citation for action on Hill 902. He was finally rotated home on June 6, 1951.

Mr. Harbula was recently quoted in the McKeesport Daily News as saying, ``I don't consider myself a hero.'' Well, I think it's safe to say that the rest of us do. I am grateful to U.S. Marine Corporal Robert Harbula for his heroic service to our country, and I am very proud to represent him in the House of Representatives.

Mr. Harbula may not consider himself a hero, but he believes deeply that his comrades in George Company, especially those who gave their lives for this country, are heroes who never got the recognition they deserved. He has endeavored for years to educate the American public about the critical role George Company played in reinforcing and defending Hagaru-ri and holding it until the 5th and 7th Marine Regiments could reach it and the First Marine Division could carry out its legendary fighting withdrawal.

That may finally be happening some 60-odd years after the fact. In 2010, a writer named Patrick K. O'Donnell published ``Give Me Tomorrow: The Korean War's Greatest Untold Story--the Epic Stand of the Marines of George Company.'' The book is based on extensive interviews with the surviving members of G Company. In addition, earlier this week, the story of George Company's actions in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir was the subject of an episode of ``Against All Odds''--a six-part series about battlefield heroism on the American Heroes Channel--which until recently was known as the Military Channel.

Mr. Speaker, all Americans can be proud of the fact that in the course of our nation's history, there have been many inspiring, often heartbreaking stories of heroes who have given their lives for this country. There are many, many more Americans who have served this country who have risked their lives

for this country. Many have come home wounded and disabled. We owe them all a debt we can never begin to repay. It's my belief, though, that we should remember them and honor them as best we can for what they've done. That's why, when I learned about Bob Harbula and George Company's service in the Korean War, I felt it was only right that I share their story with you and have it included in the Congressional Record.

Mr. Harbula has spent much of his life trying to call attention to his brothers in arms--the Chosin Few--so I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing the bravery and tremendous sacrifices of Bob Harbula and the men of Company G, Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment for their heroic service in the Korean War. God bless them, and God bless everyone who serves or has served our nation in its armed forces.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in anticipation of Graduate- Professional Student Appreciation Week, which will be observed this year between April 7th and the 11th.

For more than 25 years, Graduate-Professional Student Appreciation Week has been observed as a show of support and appreciation for our nation's graduate and professional

students. Its sponsor, the National Association of Graduate- Professional Students, hosts events across the U.S.A. each year in April to educate the public about the importance and impact that graduate and professional students have on their communities and our country.

Our nation's graduate and professional students play several important roles in our society. For starters, they teach undergraduate students at many colleges and universities across the country. In addition, they play an often unsung role in our nation's academic research efforts, working away in laboratories and libraries on cutting edge research. Finally, of course, once they graduate and receive their graduate or professional degrees, they go on to careers in science, education, law, medicine, and other fields that are essential to improving our quality of life and promoting economic growth. The National Association of Graduate-Professional Students represents more than 600,000 graduate and professional students at over 90 institutions across the United States, including a number in Pennsylvania's 14th Congressional District.

More than 15,000 graduate and professional students are enrolled in the nine institutions of higher education in and around the City of Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, Chatham University, Robert Morris University, Carlow University, Point Park University, La Roche College, and the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

The graduate programs offered by these institutions and the high caliber of students they attract have a tremendous impact on our local civic life and economy, not only while they are studying, but often because they remain in the region. Graduate students teach undergraduates, lead innovative research projects, and start companies that attract bigger companies to the region like Google, Yahoo, Disney and many others.

Pittsburgh owes much of its recent economic growth to the world class research being done at our local colleges and universities. I think it's safe to say that the same is true across the country at institutions of higher learning where graduate and professional students are working in collaboration with talented faculty members to expand the boundaries of human knowledge and improve Americans' quality of life.

That's why I think it's particularly important to recognize our nation's graduate and professional students each year. I urge my colleagues to join me in observing Graduate-Professional Student Appreciation Week this year.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of my constituents who is truly an American hero.

Mr. Robert Harbula of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, fought bravely as a U.S. Marine in the Korean War--including the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Private First Class Harbula served in G Company of the Third Battalion of the First Marine Regiment, part of the First Marine Division, in the Korean War. His unit was referred to initially as ``George Company'' and then, later, after Chosin Reservoir, as ``Bloody George.''

Private First Class Bob Harbula was assigned to the Marine unit guarding Camp David, the Presidential retreat, when he served as an usher for the Washington, DC, premiere of ``Sands of Iwo Jima'' in January of 1950. After seeing the movie, he decided that he ought to get a more dangerous posting, so he volunteered for a marine raider unit several months later. Soon thereafter, he ended up in Camp Pendleton as part of the 1st Marine Division--and in August 1950, he found himself on a troopship headed for Japan with the First Marines as one of the early reinforcements for the hard-pressed UN forces in Korea. Mr. Harbula was part of the machine gun squad attached to G Company's First Platoon.

Korea had been occupied for 35 years by Japan until the end of World War II, at which point it was partitioned at the 38th Parallel. South Korea was occupied and protected by US forces. North Korea was occupied by the Soviet Union. UN plans to hold elections and unify the country were rejected by the Soviets, and a communist dictatorship was established in the north.

On June 25, North Korean troops crossed the boundary separating North and South Korea, taking the ill-prepared South Korean Army by surprise and overwhelming it. Three days later, the North Korean army occupied Seoul, the South Korean capital. US troops from the Eighth Army based in Japan rushed to aid the South Koreans. They were thrown into battle piecemeal in a desperate effort to gain time for more reinforcements to arrive. South Korean troops and the US 24th Infantry Division fought the North Korean troops repeatedly, inflicting substantial casualties, but they were repeatedly defeated by superior numbers and forced to retreat. By August, US and South Korean forces had been pushed back to a fragile perimeter around the port city of Pusan in the southwest corner of the Korean peninsula. Despite repeated North Korean attacks, the Pusan Perimeter held and bled the North Koreans dry.

General Douglas MacArthur, commander of US forces in the region, decided to launch a major amphibious landing deep in the North Korean army's rear at the port city of Inchon on Korea's west coast. Mr. Harbula's unit was in the first wave of the assault craft, which landed under heavy fire on September 15th. From that moment on, George Company was in nearly constant combat as US forces captured Inchon and fought their way into Seoul, where the fighting often deteriorated into vicious house-to-house combat. On the night of September 25, George Company--heavily outnumbered--stopped a major North Korean counterattack by tanks, self-propelled artillery, and hundreds of men along Seoul's Ma Po Boulevard. Mr. Harbula and his section did what they could, firing a machine gun non-stop at the lead tank. With artillery support, George Company withstood and repelled the attack-- but at a terrible cost.

The Inchon landing and the liberation of Seoul caused the weakened and over-extended North Korean forces in the south to collapse and beat a panicked retreat northward. The US Eighth Army began pressing northward in aggressive pursuit along Korea's west coast. The X Corps, which included the 1st Marine Division, was pulled out of the line and loaded onto amphibious transport ships. They sailed around the Korean Peninsula and disembarked at the end of October in the port of Wonsan on North Korea's southeastern coast, which had already been secured by South Korean units.

George Company's first assignment after landing at Wonsan was holding a village called Majon-ni several miles inland at the junction of roads leading to Seoul, Wonsan, and Pyongyang. On November 2nd, PFC Harbula's machine gun squad was helping to escort a re-supply convoy through a treacherous mountain gorge when it was ambushed. Bob Harbula provided cover, firing a .30 caliber machine gun from the hip, while the surviving trucks were carefully turned around on the one-lane, cliff- edged road and driven out of the ambush to Wonsan, where they reported to headquarters and requested a rescue mission for the remaining survivors.

George Company garrisoned Majon-ni for several weeks after the ambush. PFC Harbula took command of his 10-man machine gun squad after the sergeant who had been in charge was seriously wounded in the ambush. On November 14, George Company moved north to the Hungnam- Chigyong region.

The rugged Taebaek Mountains that ran up the middle of the Korean peninsula divided the Eighth Army from X Corps as each force pushed north. On November 24, MacArthur ordered the ``Home by Christmas'' offensive to conquer all of North Korea up to the Yalu River, which formed the boundary between North Korea and China. The Eighth Army was to push north, while the First Marine Division was to push west from the Chosin Reservoir, cut off a North Korean major supply line, and link up with the Eighth Army.

Unbeknownst to General MacArthur and his advisors, hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops had begun infiltrating into North Korea in mid-October. The General and his staff thought that there were only a few small Chinese units fighting in North Korea. In fact, Chinese troops were massing for attacks in both the east and west. In the east, the 9th Army Group of the Chinese ``People's Volunteer Army'' had encircled most of the Chosin Reservoir, a large man-made lake north of Wonsan and 65 miles northwest of the port city of Hungnam.

On November 25, nearly two hundred thousand Chinese troops launched a surprise attack on the Eighth Army, defeating it resoundingly in the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River and sending it retreating southward in what came to be called ``the Big Bug-out.''

On November 27, however, the First Marine Division's orders were still to attack northwestward. Most of the Division's combat troops, primarily thousands of Marines from the First Marine Division's 5th and 7th Regiments, were positioned around the village of Yudam-ni west of the reservoir. An understrength regimental combat team from the 7th Infantry Division held territory on the east side of the reservoir up through the village of Hundong-ni to Sinhung-ni. A winding narrow road led through the mountainous terrain from each village to the bottom of the lake, where they met in the village of Hagaru-ri, which was lightly defended by a hodgepodge of units from the First Marine Division, including a

number of companies from George Company's First Marine Regiment. Essential supplies had been stockpiled at Hagaru-ri, and engineers were desperately trying to build a small airstrip when they weren't fighting off enemy attacks.

It was 14 miles of treacherous terrain from Yudam-ni to Hagaru-ni. From there, the road wound 11 miles through more mountainous terrain to the town of Koto-ri, where the 1st Marine Regiment's headquarters was located--defended by the Regiment's Second Battalion--and then another 10 miles to Chinhung-ni, defended by First Battalion, First Marine Regiment. From there, it was another 37 miles to the port city of Hungnam. That one narrow road was the only way First Marine Division and the other units from X Corps could get out of the mountains and back to the coast.

Meanwhile, George Company was stuck somewhere in the rear echelons for lack of transportation.

On the night of November 27, all hell broke loose. The 9th Army Group of the People's Volunteer Army attacked the X Corps forces on either side of the Chosin Reservoir and at various points along the road as far south as Koto-ri. Tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers attacked the Marines. The Marines at Yudam-ni were surrounded and cut off, as were the soldiers of the 7th Infantry's Regimental Combat Team 31 on the east side of the reservoir--and the Divisional headquarters and elements of the 1St Marine Regiment at Hagaru-ri.

On the morning of November 28, George Company finally got some wheels. They were ordered into trucks and headed north, arriving in Koto-ri at nighfall.

That night, the Chinese launched a massive attack on Hagaru-ri. They almost succeeded in overwhelming the outnumbered Marines, who had thrown every able-bodied man who could fire a rifle into the front line--down to, and including, the cooks and truck drivers. Wheu dawn came, the defenses had held, but Chinese forces occupied the strategic high ground--East Hill--and unless reinforcements arrived, it seemed inevitable that Hagaru-ri would fall and the units around the Chosin Reservoir would be doomed.

George Company's 200 men formed part of the 900-man ``Task Force Drysdale'' that was rapidly thrown together on the morning of November 29th in Koto-ri to reinforce Hagaru-ri. It took the column all day to fight their way up the 11 miles of road between Koto-ri and Hagaru-ri. They had to stop repeatedly to clear enemy roadblocks, and they were under fire the whole time from thousands of Chinese soldiers dug in on either side of the road. The route was subsequently given the name ``Hell Fire Valley.''

Late in the day, the rear of the convoy was stopped by a burning truck and surrounded by Chinese troops. Fighting through the night until their ammunition was nearly all gone, the surviving soldiers finally had no choice but to surrender.

The front of the column, consisting of the surviving tanks, George Company, and some of the Royal Marines pushed on and finally broke through to Hagaru-ri. Only a third of the men who set out that morning in Task Force Drysdale made it to Hagaru-ri, but the 300 soldiers and the tanks that made it through Hell Fire Valley at such a terrible cost significantly bolstered the town's defenses.

The next morning, November 30, George Company was given the daunting mission of retaking East Hill. They slowly advanced up the hill, slipping and falling repeatedly on the ice and taking heavy rifle and machine gun fire. By the end of the day, they held the south end of the ridge, but the Chinese still held the center. George Company dug in as best they could, but the temperature at night dropped past -20 degrees and the ground was frozen hard. Private Harbula was forced to resort to piling dead Chinese soldiers around his machine gun like sand bags.

Once it was dark, Chinese forces counterattacked, charging down the hill several thousand strong. The men of George Company fought bravely--eventually hand-to-hand. Private Harbula's machine gun jammed, and his position was overrun by the enemy. An officer ordered the men to pull back. He remembers hitting one Chinese soldier in the face with his helmet and firing his pistol at several others. As he slipped and slid back down the hill, he fell into a shell crater. In the crater, he found several dead Americans and one of his comrades, Richard Haller, still alive but wounded in both legs. Private Harbula carried Haller down the hill to safety, but he ruptured his Achilles tendon in the process. Private Harbula was out of the fight, but the surviving members of George Company fought on. Finally, near dawn on December 1st, the Chinese attack petered out.

December 1st was something of a turning point. That day, the Marines in Yudam-ni began a break-out to the south. By nightfall, they had fought their way to Toktong Pass, halfway to Hagaru-ri. In addition, the engineers who had been working on the airstrip completed enough of the runway that C-47 transport planes could use it. That afternoon, planes started bringing in supplies and reinforcements and flying out the wounded.

There was bad news on December 1st as well. With half of the men in Regimental Combat Team 31 dead or wounded, its commander, Lieutenant Colonel Don Faith, ordered his troops to destroy any equipment they couldn't carry and attempt to break through to Hagaru-ri. As the column advanced, it was attacked constantly by thousands of Chinese soldiers on each side of the road to Hagaru-ri. As night fell, Lieutenant Faith was killed trying to take a roadblock and the column disintegrated. Many small groups of soldiers fled through the night and made it to the Hagaru-ri perimeter alive, but everyone who stayed with the convoy was killed.

Most of the First Division was now reunited in Hagaru-ri. The remaining able-bodied but exhausted members of George Company continued to defend the perimeter, moving to one end of the runway on December 5th and repulsing another large Chinese attack.

On December 6, the First Marine Division began its breakout effort-- or as its commanding officer General O.P. Smith put it, not so much retreating as attacking in a different direction. George Company fought its way back down Hell Fire Valley--but this time as part of a unit powerful enough to defend itself. They reached Koto-ri by the end of the next day. The retreat continued the following day with the 5th and 7th Regiments pushing ahead and the 1st Regiment and George Company acting as a rear guard. Finally, reached the port of Hungnam, where an armada of ships evacuated a quarter of a million soldiers and civilians, as well as a great deal of equipment.

The ``advance in a different direction'' by the ``Chosin Few'' has become a legendary example of heroism, sacrifice, endurance, and suffering. Thousands of American soldiers rebuffed surprise attacks by overwhelming numbers of enemy forces and then conducted a 70-mile fighting retreat through treacherous mountain terrain in subfreezing weather.

George Company, now ``Bloody George,'' did their part, fighting their way into Hagaru-ri, up East Hill, and then--outnumbered 10 to 1-- holding their perimeter against determined enemy counterattack. Private First Class Bob Harbula served bravely in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir until he was injured.

Remarkably, several months later, Bob's brother, John, who was a Marine stationed in Norfolk, saw a Marine on crutches hitchhiking. John picked him up and they got to talking, and the Marine mentioned that he was at the Chosin Reservoir with G-3-1. John told his passenger that he had a brother who had also fought there with G-3-1. The hitchhiker asked John what his brother's name was, and when John told him that it was Bob Harbula, the Marine's face turned white and he said, ``that's the SOB that saved my life!'' John had given a lift to Richard Haller!

Chosin Reservoir didn't mark the end of Bloody George's or Bob Harbula's combat action in Korea by any means. Soon after, he was back in combat. On April 15, 1951, he was promoted to Corporal and put in charge of 2 machineguns and 20 men at the start of Operation Ripper. He fought again with G Company in North Korea at the Hwachon Reservoir, where the First Marine Division was awarded its third Presidential Unit Citation for action on Hill 902. He was finally rotated home on 6 June 1951.

Mr. Harbula was recently quoted in the McKeesport Daily News as saying, ``I don't consider myself a hero.'' Well, I think it's safe to say that the rest of us do. I am grateful to U.S. Marine Corporal Robert Harbula for his heroic service to our country, and I am very proud to represent him in the House of Representatives.

Mr. Harbula may not consider himself a hero, but he believes deeply that his comrades in George Company, especially those who gave their lives for this country, are heroes who never got the recognition they deserved. He has endeavored in recent years to educate the American public about the critical role George Company played in reinforcing and defending Hagaru-ri and holding it until the 5th and 7th Marine Regiments could reach it and the First Marine Division could carry out its legendary fighting withdrawal.

That may finally be happening some 60-some years after the fact. In 2010, a writer named Patrick K. O'Donnell published ``Give Me Tomorrow: The Korean War's Greatest Untold Story--the Epic Stand of the Marines of George Company.'' The book is based on extensive interviews with the surviving members of G Company. In addition, earlier this week, the story of George Company's actions in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir was the subject of an episode of ``Against All Odds''--a six-part series about battlefield heroism on the American Heroes Channel--which until recently was known as the Military Channel.

Mr. Speaker, all Americans can be proud of the fact that in the course of our nation's history, there have been many inspiring, often heartbreaking stories of heroes who have

given their lives for this country. There are many, many more Americans who have served this country who have risked their lives for this country. Many have come home wounded and disabled. We owe them all a debt we can never begin to repay. It's my belief, though, that we should remember them and honor them as best we can for what they've done. That's why, when I learned about Bob Harbula and George Company's service in the Korean War, I felt it was only right that I share their story with you and have it included in the Congressional Record.

Mr. Harbula has spent much of his life trying to call attention to his brothers in arms--the Chosin Few--so I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing the bravery and tremendous sacrifices of Bob Harbula and the men of Company G, Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment for their heroic service in the Korean War. God bless them, and God bless everyone who serves or has served our nation in its armed forces.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today, along with my friend and colleague Mr. Walden, in support of H.R. 3675, the FCC Process Reform Act of 2013.

The Federal Communications Commission is charged with overseeing industries that make up one-sixth of our national economy. The communications and technology sectors are driving economic growth across the Nation, connecting businesses to markets large and small and delivering innovative, new products and services to consumers. Perhaps more importantly, communications networks are part of the very fabric of our democracy, providing the news and information that makes us informed citizens and voters.

With a mission this critical, both Democrats and Republicans believe that the FCC must be efficient, transparent, and accountable.

We started this debate in the Energy and Commerce Committee with different perspectives about how to achieve these goals. Last Congress, our work on this issue, unfortunately, devolved into a partisan process and a vote on a bill that was dead on arrival in the Senate. But this Congress, thanks to Chairman Walden's leadership and consultation with Ranking Members Waxman and Eshoo, we were able to come to an agreement on a set of bipartisan reform proposals that were unanimously supported by the committee.

I want to highlight several key provisions in this bill that we believe will improve the functioning of the FCC.

The first reform is the Sunshine Act, to allow FCC Commissioners to collaborate more closely while preserving the transparency of agency decisionmaking. I introduced this legislation along with Representatives Eshoo and Shimkus, and I am pleased to see it incorporated in the bill we are considering today.

The second area that I am particularly pleased with is the incorporation of a provision to provide an exemption to the Antideficiency Act for the Universal Service Fund. Today, the FCC relies on temporary exemptions from the Antideficiency Act to be able to administer the Universal Service program that supports connectivity to schools and libraries, known as E-Rate.

The bill we reported out of the Energy and Commerce Committee would have permanently exempted the Universal Service Fund from the Antideficiency Act, but, unfortunately, we were unable to reach agreement with CBO about the impact of this provision.

I want to thank my colleagues in the majority for working with us to come up with an alternative that provides a longer--if not permanent-- exemption. I believe it demonstrates our committee's bipartisan support for providing the FCC with the flexibility it needs to administer the E-Rate program.

I also want to compliment FCC Chairman Wheeler for his actions to address transparency and efficiency of FCC decisionmaking. From his very first day at the helm of the agency, he has focused on remedying the concerns identified in the bill that we are considering today.

I urge the FCC to continue to move forward on reforms they can make under their own initiative while we continue to work on this legislation.

Finally, I want to close by saying that I think the manner in which the FCC Process Reform Act was developed should be a model for the entire House going forward. Working together, members of the Energy and Commerce Committee crafted legislation that addressed the concerns from both sides of the aisle. I am proud to have been a part of this effort.

I want to thank my colleague, Chairman Walden, for his work. I urge all my colleagues to support this important legislation to make the FCC more efficient, transparent, and accountable. I look forward to working with our colleagues in the Senate and continuing to help this bill become law.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, we have no other speakers, and so I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 357, the GI Bill

Tuition Fairness Act. This legislation contains a number of important changes in VA programs that provide our veterans with education, training, rehabilitation, disability benefits, and housing; and it deserves our support.

I want to focus my remarks today on the disease reporting provisions in the bill because I have been deeply involved with that issue over the last year or so.

In November of 2012, the VA announced that there had been an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease at a VA hospital in Pittsburgh, which I represent. Shortly thereafter, I joined other members of the regional congressional delegation in requesting investigations into the outbreak. In response, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the VA Inspector General's Office examined the outbreak and the events leading up to it at length. The Centers for Disease Control also looked into the outbreak and determined that it had resulted in several deaths and more than two dozen illnesses.

I want to personally express my gratitude to my good friend Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Coffman, and Ranking Member Michaud for being so responsive to our requests for investigations and investigating the outbreak and holding hearings on it last year.

In the end, the hearings and investigations identified a number of shortcomings in the way the outbreak was handled and the need to be addressed. One of the concerns raised, as we learned more about the outbreak, was that for some time after the local VA facility knew it had Legionella bacteria in its water supply and that VA patients had been sickened by it, it had not notified State or local health agencies about the outbreak. Under current law, VA is not required to make such reports, which are required of all other hospitals.

Chairman Miller, Subcommittee Chairman Coffman, Senator Casey, and Congressmen Murphy, Rothfus, and I all agree that in the future the VA should be required to report outbreaks of potentially deadly diseases to public health authorities, just like other hospitals already do.

The language in this bill is the result of our discussions over a number of months. I believe that the need for this reporting requirement is obvious. I urge my colleagues to support this bill which will make this important change.

Mr. DOYLE (during consideration of H.R. 357). Mr. Speaker, on January 29, I was not present when H.R. 2642, the conference report for the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act, better known as the farm bill, was voted on. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to former Member of Congress William J. Coyne, who represented Pennsylvania's 14th District from 1981 until 2003. Bill passed away on November 3, 2013.

I was honored to work with Bill for eight years as members of Pennsylvania's Congressional delegation from adjacent districts, and I have had the privilege of serving many of his former constituents since he retired in January 2003. I wanted to take this opportunity to remember Bill.

Bill was born on August 24, 1936. He grew up in a house on Halket Street in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood, and he lived in that house for most of his life.

Bill graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1954. He served in the U.S. Army in Korea from 1955 through 1957. He returned to Pittsburgh after completing his military service and began working as an accountant for a trucking company. He subsequently attended Robert Morris College, graduating with a B.S. in accounting in 1965. In all, he worked as an accountant for 13 years.

Bill became involved in local politics in the 1960s, doing volunteer work on a number of local Democratic campaigns. He ran for office himself in 1970 and was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he served one term. He was elected to Pittsburgh City Council in 1973, and he served as a City Councilman from 1974 until 1980.

In 1980, Bill ran for Congress, and was elected to represent Pennsylvania's 14th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. At that time, the 14th District consisted of the City of Pittsburgh and a number of adjacent communities in Allegheny County. He was re-elected 10 times and represented the 14th District in Congress for 22 years from 1981 until 2003.

During his first 2 terms in Congress, Bill served on the House Banking Committee and the Committee on House Administration. He also served on the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, known unofficially as the House Ethics Committee.

In 1985, he was appointed to serve on the Ways and Means Committee. In addition, from 1993 through 1998, he served on the House Budget Committee.

In the 1980s, when Bill started serving in Congress, southwestern Pennsylvania was experiencing high unemployment and economic disruption as a result of the decline of the steel industry, which up until then had been the dominant driver of the region's economy. Consequently, job creation and economic redevelopment were his top priorities when he began serving in Congress and throughout his service there.

At that time, due to many young and working-age individuals leaving the region to seek work elsewhere, Pittsburgh had a disproportionately large elderly population--with more senior citizens than any Congressional District outside of Miami. As a result, Bill also focused his efforts on programs which, like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, were essential to the health and well-being of older Americans. He worked on the Ways and Means Committee, for example, to protect Americans' pensions and other retirement benefits, enact a Medicare prescription drug benefit, and oppose efforts to cut federal safety net programs.

Bill worked closely with local and state elected leaders to develop a plan for the region's renewal, which consisted of building on the region's greatest assets--its research universities, hospitals, and financial institutions--while attempting to preserve the region's remaining manufacturing base. His efforts to achieve those goals focused on federal investments in scientific and biomedical research, higher education, housing and community development, transportation, and the clean-up and redevelopment of abandoned industrial sites. He also pursued complementary tax and trade policies. He was actively involved in securing federal funding for important projects in southwestern Pennsylvania as well as efforts to preserve and expand federal programs nationwide.

With hundreds of acres of shuttered steel mills in the region, Bill worked on the Ways and Means Committee to provide tax incentives for businesses and municipalities to clean up and redevelop vacant, often polluted industrial sites--often referred to as brownfields--including a provision in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 which allowed businesses to deduct the cost of cleaning up brownfields sites in certain targeted areas. He also worked successfully to expand the brownfields tax incentive and delay its expiration date by several years. In addition, he supported legislation to create federal empowerment zones and enterprise communities, which provided tax breaks for businesses that operated in economically distressed areas.

Bill believed that the federal tax code could and should be used to create or preserve American manufacturing jobs, and he worked successfully to make the federal tax-exempt Industrial Development Bond program permanent to keep U.S. manufacturing jobs from moving overseas.

Bill also worked successfully to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for local infrastructure projects--including reconstruction of the Drake, Library, and Overbrook trolley lines in Allegheny County and construction of an extension of the MLK Jr. Busway. He worked successfully to get local locks and dams updated-- most notably, Locks and Dams 2, 3, and 4 on the Lower Monongahela River--and a flood control project built along Saw Mill Run. Bill also secured the cost-free transfer of the Hays Ammunition Plant to the City of Pittsburgh for redevelopment. He secured millions of dollars in seed money for the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and the NASA Robotics Engineering Consortium. In addition, he worked successfully to enact a bill designating the Steel Industry Heritage Project in Homestead as a national heritage area to preserve the region's history and culture and promote local tourism.

Bill was also an unabashed liberal--a vocal defender of workers' rights, women's rights, and gay rights as well as all of the New Deal and Great Society programs. He believed in tougher federal gun control laws--voting, for example, in support of the 1994 assault weapons ban. He opposed efforts to roll back American workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively, and he worked to expand protection for workers' rights in international trade agreements.

Bill strongly opposed efforts to cut domestic spending programs in the 1980s and 1990s, especially programs to help local governments undertake important redevelopment activities--programs like Community Development Block Grants, Urban Development Action Grants, the Economic Development Administration, and General Revenue Sharing. Bill also worked with many of his colleagues to protect federal programs that served children, senior citizens, the disabled, and working families. On the other side of the ledger, he opposed increased defense spending in the 1980s and supported deep defense cuts in the 1990s after the end of the Cold War and the demise of the Soviet Union. Bill worked on the House Ways and Means Committee to reduce the tax burden on low- and middle-income families. He was also actively involved in developing and enacting legislation to reform the Internal Revenue Service.

In 2002, Bill decided to retire at the end of his 11th term. In January of 2003, he wrapped up his career in politics and returned home to Pittsburgh. In the 10 years since then, Bill has enjoyed retirement, dividing his time between his home in Pittsburgh and a home in Ireland.

When you take into account his military service, his service in the Pennsylvania State legislature, his service on Pittsburgh City Council, and his 22 years in Congress, you can't help but conclude that Bill Coyne was a dedicated public servant. He was quiet but effective--and he was living proof that nice guys can get ahead. Bill Coyne was a credit to this institution and to his home town. Those of us who had the privilege to know him will miss him.

He is survived by his long-time companion Kathy Kozdemba, his brother Philip Coyne, Jr. and many nieces and nephews.

I'd like to include this eulogy given by his nephew Daniel Coyne at his funeral in Pittsburgh last week.

Billy: A Eulogy for Congressman Bill Coyne Delivered at His Funeral,

November 7, 2013

(By Daniel V. Coyne, Managing Editor, Boston Consulting Group)

Bill Coyne was my father's older brother, and I have the

honor and privilege of saying a few words about who he was

and the full life he lived.

Bill, or Billy as I called him, was devoted to his long-

time companion Kathy; to his surviving brother Philly; to his

nieces, nephews, cousins, and extended family; to his faith;

to the city of Pittsburgh, which he served for decades; and

to his neighborhood of Oakland, which gave rise to

characters, stories, and legends that made me wish I'd grown

up in a different time.

He was best known, of course, for being a politician.

Articles about Bill Coyne always described him as quiet. But

that belied his passion and his commitment. He worked

incredibly hard for the things he believed in. Economic

development and opportunity, equality, measures to help the

working class. He was sometimes described as an old-fashioned

Democrat. I think he was very proud of that--proud to be

called liberal or progressive. Not that he'd ever brag about

it. Billy never cared for grandstanding, never sought the

limelight.

To me, his legacy is not just about what he did, it's about

how he did it. Billy was civil, sincere, genuine, and

honorable. He epitomized everything that's good and noble

about the title ``public servant''. He simply wanted to help

people. He got involved in politics in the late 60s, he said,

because of the conditions of the country. He wanted to make a

difference. And that's what he and his dedicated staff did.

In a 1986 profile of Billy in the Pittsburgh Press, Tip

O'Neill summed it up nicely: ``You can get a lot done for

your constituents when you have the respect and admiration of

your colleagues,'' he said. ``And Bill Coyne is one of the

best liked guys down here.'' Incidentally, when Billy heard

that the Press wanted to do a story on him, he had a one-word

response: ``Why?''

Billy was more than a politician. He was a kind and

generous uncle. He was thoughtful and warm. He loved being

with Kathy and hosting Christmas dinners with her. He loved

being with his nieces, nephews, and cousins. He was happy

being in Pittsburgh, living a short walk from Halket Street,

where he grew up. And he was energized by the visits he and

Kathy made to Ireland several times each year.

For his brother Philly's 90th birthday, a group of us

travelled to Ireland. Billy and Kathy were our guides.

Billy's excitement was infectious. He was like a little kid,

reveling in the music, the scenery, the streetscapes, the

people, being with our relatives. He wanted so much for us to

be a part of it. It reminded me of how he'd treat people who

visited him in Washington.

I lived there for a few years while Billy was in office.

He'd sometimes sneak me and a friend onto the floor of the

House of Representatives for small occasions, like the State

of the Union Address. It was never to show off. Billy wasn't

in the habit of trying to impress people. I just think he saw

the House floor in the same way he and others who grew up in

Oakland saw Forbes Field. It's historic, and it's hallowed

ground. But it's sort of public property . . . you don't

really need a ticket to get in. The fact that it was there

was permission enough.

Billy did those sorts of things all the time. He'd go out

of his way to do something if he thought it would make you

happy. The fact is, Billy would go out of his way for anyone,

anytime. Selfless hardly begins to describe his compassion

and his sense of service. That's how he worked his job.

That's how he lived his life.

His passing is a profound loss for Kathy, for Philly, and

for our whole family. We were blessed to have had him in our

lives, and we will miss him dearly.

There's a quote, attributed to an ancient Chinese

philosopher, whom Billy was fond of. Kathy gave it to me. She

said that Billy carried it around in his wallet. It obviously

meant a lot to him, and I'd like to close by reading it:

A leader is best when people barely know he exists

Not so good when people obey and acclaim him

Worse when they despise him

But of a good leader who talks little, when his work is done

they will say:

``We did it ourselves''

Mr. Speaker, let's think about where America was prior to the enactment of the Affordable Care Act.

There were 30 to 40 million of our citizens without insurance. People with preexisting conditions either couldn't get insurance or had to pay so much they couldn't afford their insurance. Women were being charged twice as much as men. People that had insurance had annual and lifetime caps.

Did you ever wonder why when you would see families holding fundraisers to raise money for their kid's drugs when a kid has cancer? These are people who had insurance and came up against the annual caps or lifetime caps, and the insurance company didn't pay any more. Half the families in America are filing bankruptcy. People with insurance up against caps, no more payments, families losing everything.

We put an end to that with the Affordable Care Act. How did we do that? We come up with a private system that required everybody to participate--young and old, rich and poor, healthy and sick. When you put everybody in that risk pool, healthy people help us enable the insurance industry to keep rates at an affordable rate for those people who have preexisting conditions and who have chronic diseases. That is how the system works.

What my colleague, Mr. Upton, is proposing today unravels that system. Make no mistake about it. If we continue to allow private insurance companies to sell policies that discriminate against women, that set annual caps and lifetime caps, if we continue to allow all of those practices that 80 percent to 90 percent of Americans say they want in their health care system, then that risk pool goes away, rates go sky high, and you will have raised premiums for every American in this country.

I say to my colleagues, there are unforeseen circumstances we knew would come up in this bill. I led the charge in my caucus. I told my caucus if the President doesn't come up with a fix, if our leadership doesn't have an alternative solution to this, many of us would consider voting for the Upton bill, as bad as it is, because it undermines the health care bill.

The good news is the President has responded. We will have a motion to recommit today that responds, and I want to make it clear that there is nothing in the Upton bill that mandates insurance companies to do this. This is a shallow bill.

In the end, let me just say, my friends, have some credibility. You introduced 102 bills, and you never put one of them on the floor for a vote. So don't pretend you care about the American people's health care here. You are just trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Democrats are not going to let you do that.

Mr. Speaker, one of my constituents, Jeanne Stoner, is retiring this month from her position as Assistant Vice Chancellor at the University of Pittsburgh, after a long and productive career at this highly respected institution. I want to take this opportunity to recognize all the outstanding work that Jeanne has done to help the University of Pittsburgh and our community throughout her career.

Jeanne was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She earned a number of academic degrees, including a bachelor of arts degree, summa cum laude from Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa, a master of arts degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. After law school, Jeanne went to work as an associate attorney for the Pittsburgh law firm of Thomson, Rhodes and Cowie, and she's lived there ever since.

For the last 25 years, Jeanne has worked for the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Her first position was as the Director of Federal Government Relations for the UPMC Health System from 1989-1998. In 1999, she was appointed to be the Corporate Secretary for UPMC. In January 2000, Jeanne moved from UPMC to Pitt to become the University's Director of Federal Government Relations, and she was subsequently named Assistant Vice Chancellor and Associate General Counsel. In each of these positions, Jeanne worked diligently on the University's behalf, addressing whatever issues came across her desk with dedication and professionalism.

Jeanne also served on many committees for various higher education professional organizations including the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities and the Association of American Universities. In 2009, in recognition of her many contributions to higher education, Jeanne was awarded the Carolyn Cross Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities' Council on Government Affairs.

Jeanne and her husband Bill have 4 children and 7 grandchildren, and she is an active member of the St. Thomas More Parish in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.

I have known and worked with Jeanne for most of her time at Pitt and UPMC on a number of public policy and community-related issues. Consequently, I can say from personal experience what a warm, gracious, intelligent, and skilled professional she is. She always had Pittsburgh's best interests at heart. It's been a great pleasure to work with her over the years, and her retirement will put a big dent in the University's institutional memory.

I have been privileged to know Jeanne and work with her over the many years that I've served in Congress. She has applied great intelligence, energy, and dedication on behalf of both Pitt and Pittsburgh. I want to thank her for her many contributions to our community, congratulate her on the occasion of her retirement, and wish her the best as she begins the next phase of her life.

I thank my colleague from California and my colleagues from New York and Connecticut.

Mr. Speaker, many of us that you will see on the floor tonight, we are not regulars, we are not people that come to the floor often to speak. But I think many of us feel it is important for the American people to understand the nature of this task, this battle, that we face on their behalf.

We hear a lot from Republicans about the President not wanting to negotiate, not wanting to talk. The Democrats don't want to negotiate. They have been pretty good at saying that over and over and over again, Mr. Speaker. But what they are not telling the American people is the nature of the negotiation that they want to have. I think it is important that that be revealed.

What makes me so angry--and the reason I am here tonight--is what we face in the country right now is completely a manufactured crisis. There is no structural economic reason that our country should be facing default come the 17th of this month. There is no reason that 800,000 Federal employees aren't working. There is no reason for this to happen.

This is being manufactured by a party because they are trying to get something that they have not been able to get at the ballot box. We have divided government. The Republicans control the House of Representatives, the Senate is controlled by the Democratic party, we have a Democratic President.

The Republicans had two goals going into this manufactured crisis. One was to destroy the health care bill. Now, this is a bill that passed the House of Representatives, it passed the Senate, it was signed by the President, it was upheld by the Supreme Court. We had a Presidential election and their candidate said on day one of his new administration the first thing he would do if elected was to repeal the Affordable Care Act. That gentleman lost by 5 million votes.

What they can't accomplish at the ballot box they now were looking for a way to accomplish here. But it couldn't be done through the regular process, Mr. Speaker. It couldn't be done through the regular order.

So now comes this ingenious idea, hatched by the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party, to say: Here is what we will do. We will wait until the end of the fiscal year to come, and we will say we are going to shut the government down unless you repeal ObamaCare.

I was on this floor a couple of days ago and read something on the floor that I saw on the Internet by a young man by the name of Judd Legum. I hope I have said his last name correctly. He put an analogy about what we were actually facing. He said it is sort of like if someone comes up to you and says, I want to burn down your house, and you look at the guy and you say, no. And he says, well, I just want to burn down the second floor, and you tell him, no. And he goes, well, what about your garage, can I burn your garage down? And you say, no. And the guy says, well, let's just sit down and talk about what part of your house I can burn down, and you look at the guy and you say, no. And he goes, you see, you're not compromising.

This is what we are facing in this so-called ``rigged'' negotiation. What Republicans are saying is, defund ObamaCare, we will open up the government. We said, no. Then they said, we will delay ObamaCare for a year and we will open up the government, and we said, no. Then they said, well, just get rid of that individual mandate--which effectively kills the health care bill--and we said, no. Then they said, well, will you just sit down and negotiate with us and tell us what part of the Affordable Care Act we can get rid of, and we said, there are 20 million Americans that are counting on this bill, it is the law of the land, the answer is no.

And they look at us and say, the Democrats don't want to negotiate; the President doesn't want to negotiate.

Well, I got news for my friends over there: we are not going to negotiate the rights of 20 million uninsured Americans because they can't get this done at the ballot box.

So now, Mr. Speaker, what is the new strategy? They have shifted off of the health care bill now because the American public, by margins of over 70 percent, have said we don't want you to shut the government down to try to get rid of the Affordable Care Act.

So now where have they moved? To the Ryan budget. What is the Ryan budget? It is a budget that keeps us in sequester, it is a budget that does not invest in our infrastructure, it is a budget that does not invest in the education of our children, it is a budget that makes it impossible for this economy to grow, and it is a budget that threatens the social safety net that many of our senior citizens depend on.

They couldn't get it passed in the regular order. They couldn't get it passed in their own House of Representatives for a long time. They were afraid to put the bill on the floor. They certainly couldn't get it passed in the Senate, and they knew the President wouldn't sign it.

So what is the strategy now? This new rigged negotiation that we are being asked to have with our friends is: Give us pieces of the Ryan budget, and in return we will open up the government and we will raise the debt ceiling, but only if you give us what we want in the Ryan budget.

Mr. Speaker, we want to have a budget negotiation with our friends on the Republican side. The House has passed a budget, the Senate has passed a budget. The numbers--there is a great disparity in the numbers. Democrats believe in investing in America. We want to rebuild our roads and bridges and sewer systems. We want to invest in the education of our children. We want to protect our seniors and our veterans. It costs money to do that, Mr. Speaker, so there is a difference.

But we are ready and we are willing to appoint conferees tomorrow to sit down and have a negotiation. I want the American public to understand that we have asked 18 times to appoint conferees to negotiate the differences in the Senate budget and the House budget, and all 18 times the Republicans in the House have said no.

So, Mr. Speaker, I would just say if there's someone in this House that's not willing to negotiate, it's our friends on the Republican side of the aisle. The American people deserve a budget negotiation where we sit down and settle our differences. We're not going to get everything we want, Mr. Speaker; it's divided government. The Republicans are going to get something in this budget negotiation, the Democrats are going to get something in the budget negotiation. But the country moves forward, we pay our bills, and we live to pay another day.

In closing, let me say to the American people, we will not be part of a rigged negotiation where Democratic priorities and principles aren't allowed to be discussed, only that which the Republicans couldn't get in the ballot box that they're trying to get now by holding a gun to our head. That's not how you do business in the United States of America. That kind of behavior has to be stopped.

Mr. Speaker, for the good of the American people, I hope Republicans will come to their senses, pass a clean CR, and let's sit down and negotiate a budget agreement for the American people and move this country forward.

I thank you for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, we've heard from our Republican colleagues that Democrats don't want to compromise, that the President doesn't want to negotiate.

I read something on the Internet this morning that sort of describes the type of negotiation the Republicans want to have with us. It goes something like this:

Can I burn down your house?

No.

How about just the second floor?

No.

How about the garage?

No.

Well, let's talk about what I can burn down.

No.

You're not compromising.

Mr. Speaker, this is what we've been going through. You want a budget for 6 weeks? Defund ObamaCare. Delay ObamaCare. Take away the individual mandate from ObamaCare. Or please, just sit down with us and tell us what we can take away from 20 million Americans who need health care, and then we'll reopen the government.

Let me say to my colleagues, if you would just stop trying to burn down the house, we can talk.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to remove my name as a cosponsor of H.R. 693.