Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Albany Park Community Center for receiving the League of Women Voters Award for outstanding leadership in voter education.

The Center received the award for its dedicated service to increase voter awareness and civic participation in the Albany Park community, a multi-ethnic, working class neighborhood in Chicago. In order to accomplish its goals, the Center held 25 adult education classes that focused on voting, placed bulletin boards with election-related content inside the Center, assisted voters in locating their polling places and understanding their local ballots, registered voters, and participated in the 2008 Mock Election coordinated with the League of Women Voters of Illinois. The Mock Election showed how successful their efforts had been when 318 of the 322 ballots were cast correctly.

They succeeded in reaching over 300 students through their adult education classes and successfully registered newly-naturalized citizens and others who had never voted or who let their registration lapse. Many of the students had levels of education or English language skills, and the program catered directly to their needs.

As part of the ``Albany Park Votes!'' program, members of the Center went above and beyond their job descriptions, aiding and registering 58 members of the community, most of whom went on to vote in the next election. The program was especially successful in educating the entire community in the civil process, as most of the adult students brought educational materials to their children and encouraged them to vote in the Mock Election, thereby reinforcing the importance of voting and preparing them for when they become eligible voters. In this way, Albany Park Community Center's program will have a long term

impact on the community's involvement in the civil process.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the Albany Park Community Center for their dedicated efforts to increase voter awareness and civic participation. Their efforts demonstrate how great the democratic process can be.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of former Chicago Blackhawk, Pit Martin. Pit was born in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, played 17 seasons in the NHL, and died in a tragic snowmobile accident two winters ago. He was only 64.

Pit is remembered as a hockey player, and for good reason because he was a darned great one. His storied career spanned four teams and 19 years--including 11 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks. In 740 games, Pit scored 243 goals, dished out 384 assists, and was the ``M'' on the Chicago Stadium's iconic ``MPH'' line with Jim Pappin and Dennis Hull. He was named to four All-Star teams and led the Hawks to two Stanley Cup Finals.

But anyone who stood 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighed 168 pounds in the NHL can never be defined by numbers alone--and so it was with Pit. After the 1969-70 season, he was awarded the Bill Masterson Trophy, exemplifying the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. He was never the biggest dog in the fight, but during the 1,101 games he suited up for, no one fought harder, worked harder, and did more with less.

When Pit passed away, Hall-of-Fame linesman Matt Pavelich summed it up best: ``He was small, but he wasn't timid. I just remember him as a real nice guy.'' The Blackhawk family and the city of Chicago miss him.

Let's see if we can finish what he helped start, and bring home a Stanley Cup this year, for Pit, and all of Chicago.

Mr. Speaker, thirty-seven years ago this week, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Roe v. Wade, making abortion legal in the United States.

The Court's decision recognized a fundamental, constitutional right to privacy that protects a woman's personal decisions from governmental interference.

This landmark decision greatly advanced women's rights, but we must never take those rights for granted.

Because as I speak, there are groups bent on taking away those rights.

Opponents of women's rights are attempting to hijack the healthcare reform bill, and use it as a vehicle to curtail access to reproductive healthcare.

We cannot and will not allow women's reproductive rights to be sacrificed for healthcare reform.

Thirty-seven years ago we took a historic step forward for women's reproductive rights.

Now we are on the brink of another historic step.

But we must ensure that a move forward for healthcare does not result in a step backward for choice--a step backward for Roe v. Wade.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Lookman Muhammed, a student from Lawrence Hall Youth Services, for winning City Clerk Miguel del Valle's annual city sticker design contest. On December 15th, 2009, Lookman Muhammed won the 15th annual high school art contest.

This year's contest theme was ``Burnham's Chicago,'' encouraging students to study the work of architect Daniel Burnham. More than 300 students from grades 9-12, and 39 Chicago high schools entered the art contest. After a panel of honorary judges narrowed the entries down to the top 10 designs, the public voted online and at City Hall computer kiosks. Nearly 17,500 votes were cast by the public to choose this year's winner.

Muhammed's artwork will be seen on 1.3 million vehicle stickers beginning in June 2010. He also receives a $1,000 savings bond to help with his continuing education. In addition, Muhammed, along with all the finalists, will receive an honorary resolution at a January awards ceremony with City Clerk Miguel del Valle in City Hall.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Lookman Muhammed for winning City Clerk Miguel del Valle's 15th annual city sticker design contest, and thank him for participating in the contest and contributing to the City of Chicago.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1008, honoring the contributions of America's Catholic schools. These institutions provide an education that goes beyond simple arithmetic and basic grammar, instilling in children a faith and purpose that continues to serve them long after graduation. Catholic schools thrive on a sense of community and offer children and their neighborhoods high-quality education and a nurturing environment to grow beyond the classroom. This is on display everyday in the 5th District at schools like St. Benedict, Mt. Caramel, Gordon Tech and so many more.

With more than two million students across the U.S. attending Catholic schools, their efforts are felt in countless neighborhoods and in the communities they serve. They hold their students to a strict standard of excellence by graduating 99 percent of high school students--a shining example of what our high schools are capable of achieving.

Further, Catholic schools' contributions are not limited to those within the Catholic faith. Almost 15 percent of attendees are not Catholic, offering us lessons in diversity and inclusion. These ideals are extended further by minority students comprising almost a third of Catholic schools' student bodies.

I want to thank Representative Lipinski for introducing this resolution and urge all my colleagues to support it this afternoon. Catholic schools have and will continue to provide valuable educational experiences for our nation's youth and we must thank them and recognize these institutions for all they do.

Madam Speaker, Isaac Asimov once said, ``If my doctor told me I had only 6 minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster.'' For our dear friend and journalist Carlos Hernandez Gomez, it wasn't a matter of if. A year ago he was diagnosed with cancer, and tragically this week, he lost his battle. He was 36 years young.

For a year, Carlos never allowed a disease destroying him inside to show outside. He wrote, he reported, he lived. He never brooded. His courageous fight showed his strength as a person and a journalist committed to the ideals of a more responsive and transparent government.

There have been countless tributes to Carlos this week, both humorous and tearful, from the interns he graciously mentored at Public Radio to the President of the United States, whom he tenaciously covered when no one outside of Springfield knew his name or how to pronounce it. That's because Carlos treated everyone like a person and made it impossible not to adore him. Whether it was a witty nickname or a spot-on impression of a politician, Carlos brought everyone down to Earth with his disarming sense of humor.

He had an encyclopedic memory and an irrepressible hunger to learn. As a political reporter, those came in handy. He could remember names and details from election cycles and court cases as if it happened yesterday. As a person, this was just his nature. He asked his nurses about their families and could recall lyrics to obscure Beatles' songs without missing a beat.

His energy was infectious, and his passion for life was unmistakable. To know him was to love him.

Carlos attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary--no relation--and then studied philosophy at DePaul University. He once said that if he wasn't a reporter, he would have been a priest. He went on to work Extra News, Los Angeles' La Opinion, the Chicago Reporter, Chicago Public Radio, the Chicago Reader, and most recently, CLTV. With his trademark fedora and thick-rimmed black glasses, he was a throwback to a bygone era of journalism.

Carlos had such an insatiable need to cram details, insight, and vivid description into his reports that his producers tried to slow down his quick delivery. While he heeded those words, he would sneak in at the very end of his pieces, seemingly reducing ``Carlos Hernandez Gomez'' to one syllable with a heartwarming Puerto Rican lilt. It was a trademark that became just as recognizable as his hat. His signoff was so familiar that taxi drivers who listened to him loyally on public radio and recognized his distinctive voice would often give him free rides.

He was an old-school reporter, and he was a consummate Chicagoan who loved his town like family. He loved the official facets of the job, interviewing officials, pounding the pavement, working the political and court beats he knew so well. But he also knew that he could often get people at their most real on a barstool at the Billy Goat Tavern or over a pastrami sandwich at Manny's Deli.

He covered the famous and the infamous, from Mayor Daley to Rod Blagojevich, from mob bosses to George Ryan, the news of whose indictment he was the first to break. He wasn't afraid to criticize the status quo, but he did so with such credibility that even the powers that be, whose feathers he'd ruffled, respected him. He was determined not to dumb down the news. He would rather do a thorough story about a complicated issue than a quick, superficial hit.

His commitment to the truth was matched only by his unwavering faith, which he would tell you were one and the same. He also loved Star Wars, Italian beef, the guitar, and his beloved wife, Randi. At the hospital this weekend when someone said that he was leaving us too soon, that 36 years wasn't enough, his brother Jason and his cousin Mark agreed but pointed out that he packed more life into 36 years than many of us could hope to do in twice the time. Today, it is hard to find solace in that revelation. For his family, friends, and all of us who knew Carlos, this is no way to begin 2010.

On Sunday night, I heard some news about questionable choices made by a local candidate and smiled. This is exactly the kind of story that Carlos would have loved to cover, to find the truth and report it, meticulously and with panache.

Even in death, Carlos Hernandez Gomez will brighten our days, and for that, we tip our fedoras and lift our bowed heads back up. He will be missed.

I appreciate the remarks from the gentleman from Pennsylvania, and it bears truth that Philly fans and Cub fans can unite on common goals.

Madam Speaker, earlier this year, the House passed the No Child Left Inside Act, a bill and an initiative I support wholeheartedly. This past summer, following our congressional footsteps, the Illinois General Assembly proclaimed June ``No Child Left Inside Month.''

The Chicago Wilderness, a network of over 240 organizations statewide, makes giant strides to promote this initiative. The organization works to get more children outside, and it increases the amount and quality of the time they spend there. Children who grow up with an understanding of the land, air and water surrounding them grow into environmentally conscious adults, and it makes them more physically fit.

These individuals are people who are actively involved in efforts to clean, restore, and preserve our precious resources. The Chicago Wilderness knows this, and it works hard to better the lives and communities of everyone in the Chicago-land area. The Chicago Wilderness should be commended and recognized for their efforts to promote environmental literacy and healthy living.

I urge you to join me in support of this resolution on the House floor today. As it is my first resolution, I wish to thank my staff for their efforts.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the long and distinguished career of Dr. Sheldon Rubin. This year, Dr. Rubin is retiring from the veterinary profession after over four decades of caring for and treating the animals of Chicagoland.

Dr. Rubin graduated from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in 1968, and from there his career accelerated rapidly. He is a member of a vast number of respected professional organizations, including the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Animal Hospital Association and the Lincoln Park Zoo Medical Advisory Board. He has served as president of the Chicago Veterinary Medical Association and is currently in that same position for the Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association and the American Heartworm Association.

Shelly has also shown his dedication to his field through his membership in the Illinois Academy of Veterinary Medicine, an organization that requires 100 hours of continuing education a year. His endless pursuit to be on the forefront of veterinary medicine has earned him a myriad of prestigious awards, including the American Animal Association's Practitioner of the Year Award and a Lifetime Achievement Merit Award from the Chicago Veterinary Medical Association.

In addition to his numerous chairman positions and his Chief of Staff Emeritus at Blum Animal Hospital, Dr. Rubin often appears on local and national radio and television programs to promote responsible pet ownership and help teach Americans how to provide the best care for the fuzzy, furry, feathery and scaly members of our families.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Dr. Sheldon Rubin and his extraordinary career and thank him for his many outstanding contributions to veterinary medicine.

Mr. Speaker, despite its claims of pursuing only a peaceful nuclear program, Iran's actions clearly show that it's developing a nuclear bomb. You only need three elements to create a bomb: material, a delivery system, and a warhead. Iran has or almost has all three of these elements.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Tehran has developed 1\3/4\ tons of low-enriched uranium, enough to make two bombs. As for a delivery system, we know Iran has missiles and in May, tested a new long-range missile that can reach Israel, our other allies, and our troops in the region.

Regarding a warhead, the IAEA has evidence that Iran is working on fitting a bomb inside a missile cone. And this week it was reported that Iran has a plan to test a neutron initiator, a component that is used only to trigger a nuclear bomb and has no possible civilian applications.

As we stand here debating, Iran is making a nuclear bomb. The Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act will send a signal to Tehran that we will not stand by silently while they develop a nuclear weapon and threaten the entire region.

Madam Speaker, coal miners used to keep a canary with them to let them know when the air was getting dangerous. Today, we have much more sophisticated measurements, but the concept is still the same: The canary is dying.

Over 200 peer-reviewed studies have concluded that global warming is real and potentially catastrophic. No scientific peer-reviewed studies have found the opposite. None. But some of my colleagues have seized on a few illegally hacked e-mails to convince themselves that the little bird is fine. Well, that must be comforting, except it ignores the nasty case of asthma from increased emissions and the tiny bits of soot that thicken the canary's blood and boost harmful inflammation.

Watching my colleagues hold the canary like Monty Python's dead parrot would be funny if it were just an imaginary bird, but it's not a canary we're killing with increased emissions. It's our children.

And that's the way it will always be.

Mr. Speaker, scientists at the Climate Research Unit in eastern England have received more attention than their subject of study, global warming. Climategate, as it was dubbed, has been the focus of rampant speculation.

As some accuse these scientists of manipulating figures to conclude that global warming was man-made, we forget that polar ice caps are melting, and that we're hitting threshold points that cannot be reversed. We're forgetting that over 200 peer-reviewed, scientific studies have determined that global warming is real; and that man significantly contributes to global warming; and that zero peer- reviewed scientific studies have determined that global warming is not real; and that man does not contribute to that.

Today, over 1,700 scientists from the UK announced their belief that global warming is real and that man contributes to this. Congress must send climate legislation to the President for approval. And the United States must agree to a final and meaningful treaty this week in Copenhagen that binds countries to commit to reduce emissions.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of this measure, which includes two important proposals that I wrote and worked with the Financial Services Committee to include.

The first one ensures that regulators can do their jobs and regulate effectively for systemic risk. Under current law, regulators are not best equipped to prevent systemically risky behavior because their focus is on individual firms, not on the system as a whole.

My second measure that is included in the manager's amendment came from a constituent request and is strongly supported by groups like the AFL-CIO, the NAACP, and the National Fair Housing Alliance. It simply says that if your loan modification is denied, you deserve to know why. It makes the loan modification program more transparent by giving homeowners the ability to verify their mortgage servicer's net present value analysis. If the servicer used an incorrect

credit score, or misstated income, or made any number of mistakes, then you might be improperly denied loan modification.

I urge my colleagues to support this measure which includes both of these proposals.

Mr. Speaker, Louis Brandeis said sunlight is the best disinfectant. So with ethics once more in the headlines, I think it's worth asking how far we've come in bringing light to the people's House.

This is not a partisan issue. Corruption votes both ways. It is, rather, an issue of trust. These teams, more than ever, demand effective government, yet it is very hard to govern effectively without the public's trust. We need to complete the active ethics investigations currently being considered in this House, and we need to eliminate the conditions which contributed to these violations in the first place.

I've introduced two measures to eliminate pay-to-play activities at both the State and Federal level. H.R. 614 would prohibit earmarks to for-profit entities, and H.R. 3427 would eliminate Federal provisions which prevent States like Illinois from cleaning up their act on pay- to-play corruption.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting both of these measures.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and congratulate VITAL BRIDGES on the occasion of its 20th anniversary. VITAL BRIDGES, originally known as Open Hand Chicago, is a not-for-profit community organization providing food and social services to low-income people with HIV and AIDS in Chicago and Cook County.

On Christmas Eve 1988, a small group of concerned volunteers came together to deliver hot meals to AIDS patients who were too sick or too poor to prepare their own food. From this initial act of charity, Open Hand Chicago was born in January 1989.

For the last two decades and without interruption, Open Hand and its successor VITAL BRIDGES has provided food and social services to men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS.

Today, VITAL BRIDGES provides its services through five grocery centers located on the north, south and west sides of Chicago and in Oak Park and Elk Grove Village in suburban Cook County. Nearly 2,000 people receive services every month.

In addition to food services, VITAL BRIDGES provides nutrition counseling, housing assistance, case management and educational and vocational services.

On October 29, 2009, VITAL BRIDGES reached a milestone: it provided its 10 millionth meal.

Without VITAL BRIDGES, thousands of people in Chicago and Cook County would go without the healthy, balanced meals and the social services that are needed when a person is struggling to live with HIV and AIDS, especially in these economically difficult times.

So, Madam Speaker, I wish to thank Executive Director Debbie Hinde, the staff, board of directors and especially the many dedicated volunteers for 20 years of creating vital bridges of help and hope for thousands of people in our community.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the lifelong service and dedication of the Servant of God, Patriarch Josyf Slipyj to the Ukrainian Church and community. He died on September 7, 1984, and on November 22nd, 2009, a monument will be raised in his memory at the Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Parish.

Josyf Slipyj was born on February 17, 1892 in the village of Zazdrist, Ternopil region, Ukraine, into the Kobernytskyj-Slipyj and Anastasia Dychkovska families. He completed grammar school in his village and secondary school in Ternopil. He studied theology in Lviv, and completed his philosophical and theological studies in Innsbruck, Austria.

He was ordained to the priesthood by Metropolitan Andrej Sheptytsky on September 30, 1917.

He returned to Innsbruck to continue his post-graduate studies, attaining a doctorate in sacred theology. From there he traveled to Rome where he was bestowed with the title Magister Agregatus.

He began lecturing in 1922 on dogmatic theology at Lviv Theological Seminary. Toward the end of 1925 he was appointed rector of this institution, and in 1929 he was appointed rector of the newly created Theological Academy. In 1939 metropolitan Andrej consecrated him bishop with the right of succession. On November 1, 1944, he became head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

On April 11, 1945 he was arrested by the Bolsheviks and given an eight year sentence of hard labor in Siberia. After this ended and without any cause, he was imprisoned a second time for an unspecified term. In 1957 he was given a third term--seven years of hard labor. Due to the efforts of Pope John XXIII and U.S. President John F. Kennedy he was freed in 1963 to take part in the sessions of the Second Vatican Council.

Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Parish in Chicago, Illinois was founded in 1968 by Patriarch Josyf Slipyj. Among the reasons for establishing this distinct parish was the desire to preserve and more intensely nurture the traditions of the Ukrainian Church. The elements contributing to the Ukrainian Church's distinctiveness within the Universal Catholic Church are the Julian Calendar, a traditional liturgy, as well as a unique spiritual heritage.

Members of the parish are proud of the fact that Patriarch Josyf Slipyj was involved in all significant events of the parish's development. Besides establishing the parish, Patriarch Josyf blessed the cornerstone of the church and subsequently, in 1973, blessed the church itself. The reason for the parishioners' pride had to do with the Patriarch's position in the Catholic Church as a Confessor for the Faith.

Taking the lead from his predecessor Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky (+1944), as well as the decisions of the Second Vatican Council, Josyf Slipyj worked to restore self-government to the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the form of a Patriarchate. In 1965, he was made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI.

He died on September 7, 1984. In 1992 his remains were brought to Lviv, where they, in the presence of more than one million faithful, were re-interred in the crypt of St. George's Cathedral. Patriarch Josyf Slipyj has been proclaimed a Servant of God and the Ukrainian faithful pray for his beatification.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the great sacrifices and contributions Patriarch Josyf Slipyj made in his lifetime. His monument will stand as a reminder to all of his great achievements to future generations.