Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss H.R. 3427, the State Ethics Law Protection Act.

In a day and age where indictments and allegations of wrongdoing have become all too common, in fact, in Illinois, people read the scandal du jour in their newspaper. In this event, many States and local governments have enacted laws to eliminate awarding contracting based on pay-to-play, a practice of trading campaign contributions for lucrative government contracts.

Sadly, a loophole in the Federal Highway Administration's contracting requirements is making it difficult, if not impossible, for States to implement these anti-corruption laws if they want to continue to receive Federal highway support. It is up to us in Washington to make sure that our constituents are best served and their taxpayer dollars are being spent wisely.

By amending the Federal Highway Administration's contracting requirements, we in Washington can ensure that States have every tool at their disposal to encourage and ensure transparency and accountability. Please join me in supporting H.R. 3427, the State Ethics Law Protection Act, to ensure our dollars are being spent efficiently and effectively.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the outstanding impact that the Jane Addams Resource Corporation has had on the lives of Chicago's residents and the strength of its communities through their groundbreaking and exemplary job training and community building programs.

First created in 1985 to stem the flow of manufacturing jobs out of the Ravenswood Industrial corridor, the work of the Jane Addams Resource Corporation has been met with enthusiasm and success. Providing a variety of Education and Human Development Programs, excellent skills training and support services to low-income and unemployed workers, and Business and Real Estate Programs, the JARC has helped to transform and revitalize Chicago's neighborhoods by strengthening the local economy and putting people back to work. The Corporation's extraordinary efforts have been recognized both regionally and nationally, and its programs have become a model for community and economic development throughout the United States.

Over the past 24 years, JARC has emerged as an invaluable benefactor of communities and neighborhoods throughout the Chicagoland area. Recognizing that strong local communities are often a product of a vibrant local economy, the JARC has employed

a dynamic approach to community development by providing high quality skills training to low-income and unemployed workers, and at the same time building strong relationships with Chicago-area manufacturers to provide JARC graduates with well paying jobs. As a result, Chicago neighborhoods and businesses have been strengthened and low-wage earners and the unemployed have found self-sufficiency and hope.

Madam Speaker, in the midst of economic turmoil and the worst recession since the 1930s, the Jane Addams Resource Center has been a beacon of hope and help for the people who need it most. In the last year alone, 1,191 low-wage workers received employer-based manufacturing skills training with a completion rate of 99%, 25 previously unemployed individuals were trained and placed in full-time jobs with an average hourly wage of over $13.00, and in just the past 6 weeks, 7 trainees were placed in jobs. In working to improve Chicago's neighborhoods and provide valuable training to low-wage workers and the unemployed, the JARC has emerged as a unifying and beneficial force in the Chicagoland area, and I thank them for their 24 years of exceptional service to Chicago's communities and citizens.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the long and distinguished career of Mr. Steve Moses. Mr. Moses retired on August 28, 2009 after working for the Federal Government since he was 35.

For the past twelve years, Mr. Moses has served as the Chicago Passport Agency's Customer Service Manager and Congressional Liaison. Since he began, his duties have grown from helping 250 Passport Acceptance Facilities in the Chicago Passport Region (Illinois and Michigan) to over 950. His office expanded from a one person operation to the recent addition of a night-shift Customer Service Manager along with a team of two passport specialists and a customer service assistant.

The increased workload did not dampen his bright attitude, however. Mr. Moses consistently does all he can to solve passport problems and ensure positive outcomes. Over the years, he has proven to be a model government employee, and he will be missed.

Madam Speaker, I congratulate Steve Moses for his lengthy and influential career, and thank him for his many outstanding contributions to the city of Chicago. I wish him the best of luck and continued happiness in his retirement and all his future endeavors.

Madam Speaker, welcome back. I rise today to urge my colleagues to act swiftly to reauthorize the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Act before it sunsets at the end of this month.

Nineteen years ago, Ryan White, a young man who contracted HIV from a routine blood transfusion for his hemophilia, died from AIDS. Out of Ryan's death came life in the form of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act, which now provides care to 500,000 victims of AIDS and their families each year. The Ryan White Act is considered the ``payer of last resort,'' providing assistance to those who would otherwise go without care.

Reauthorizing the Ryan White Treatment Modernization Act is imperative, and so is passing health care reform. While Ryan White is gone, we owe it to work together to swiftly pass the Ryan White Act and health care reform.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of Ms. Jane Markham, a dedicated member of my district office staff. Jane's last day as a Congressional Aide and District Representative in our office will be August 1, 2009, and she deserves our wholehearted appreciation for her work.

Jane Markham began her career working for Congress in 1997 as District Director and Field Representative for Congresswoman Darlene Hooley and in 2003 she came to Chicago, Illinois to work for Congressman Rahm Emanuel, serving as a Congressional Aide and District Representative. She was instrumental to my transition into Congress and has served the needs of countless constituents of the 5th District.

While Jane's dedication and integrity will be sorely missed, her infectious personality and jovial attitude will be irreplaceable. Her sense of humor and vivacity are her trademark and our district staff will be at a loss without her unfaltering ability to make a person smile. Jane's family has always been a priority in her life. She and her husband David Cameron are the proud parents of their children, Mira and Julia.

We thank Jane for her time in our office, both as a co-worker tirelessly dedicated to constituent services and as a friend. We wish her all the best in the future knowing wherever that she may be, Jane will be going there with a confidence and liveliness that will be felt by all.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and recognize the extraordinary efforts of the Pizza 4 Patriots Organization, Uno Chicago Grill, and DHL, in teaming up to provide Chicago-style deep dish pizzas on Independence Day to our service men and women serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The cumulative effort brought 28,000 pizzas to the troops, allowing them to celebrate our nation's day of independence with a taste and feel of home.

The initiative of retired Air Force Master Sergeant Mark Evans, Pizza 4 Patriots is a non-profit organization that seeks to honor the service of the United States' Armed Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. With pizzas provided by Uno Chicago Grill and international delivery service provided by DHL, Operation Pizza Surge broke the record for the ``World's Largest Pizza Party,'' and will go down in the Guinness Book of World Records as such.

As our service men and women continue to courageously protect our freedom and liberties throughout the Middle East, the services provided by Pizza 4 Patriots, Uno Chicago Grill, and DHL are of the utmost importance. In garnering donations from individuals and organizations to make Operation Pizza Surge possible, they have helped raise awareness and recognition of the outstanding and courageous job that the United States' military continues to do to protect the liberty and safety of the American people.

We must always remember and pay tribute to the courage and sacrifice of those proud men and women who serve and protect the American people. The efforts of Pizza 4 Patriots, Uno Chicago Grill, and DHL remind us that as we celebrate our independence at home, it is the efforts of our armed forces that allow us to do so.

Madam Speaker, today we congratulate Pizza 4 Patriots, Uno Chicago Grill, and DHL for a successful completion of Operation Pizza Surge, and we thank them for providing our brave troops with a slice of home while they protect our country and our freedoms abroad.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the long and distinguished career of Chicago Alderman William JP Banks. On August 31, 2009, Alderman William JP Banks will retire from his career in public service after 26 years.

Born in the Galewood-Montclare community, Alderman Banks graduated from DePaul University and the DePaul University College of Law, never straying far from his Chicago roots and the city he went on to serve for so long. He and his wife, Shirley, have lived in and have raised their two children, Lisa and Joseph, in this same community.

In 1983, Mr. Banks won a seat in the City Council and has since become the highest ranking Italian-American in the Council's history. Throughout his illustrious career in public service, Alderman Banks has stood out as the Chairman of the City Council's Committee on Zoning, where he created an incentive program that has generated more than $12 million for affordable housing developments in neighborhoods throughout the city. Additionally, he has authored and co-sponsored hundreds of legislative initiatives benefitting the people of Chicago that promote responsible government, support our troops and improve law enforcement.

Mr. Banks' role in the community did not stop in his office. It would be impossible to list all of Mr. Banks' involvements with community organizations, but a select few show his wide-reaching involvement with all members of his community. For example, he is an active member of the Galewood-Montclare Community Organization, the North Austin Business Association, the Polish National Alliance, and the Fraternal Order of Police, and is a Board Member of the Chicago Shriner's Hospital.

One can judge a public servant's work by his community support, and looking at Alderman Banks' accolades, one can see how invaluable he has been to his constituents. He has received more than 600 awards from Youth Sports Activities and Educational programs throughout the city, a Friends of Downtown award, and numerous Person of the Year awards from organizations throughout Chicago.

Madam Speaker, I congratulate and thank William Banks for his lengthy and influential career and his many outstanding contributions to the city of Chicago. I wish him the best of luck and continued happiness in his retirement and all his future endeavors.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the outstanding impact that the Chicago area Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) Program has had in promoting literacy and bringing together families and communities throughout the Chicagoland area.

Since its formation in 1972, Reading Is Fundamental in Chicago has fought passionately and effectively to combat illiteracy in inner city neighborhoods, and its efforts have been met with both enthusiasm and success. Utilizing an extensive network that now includes 82 Chicago Public Schools, RIF in Chicago has distributed over 3 and a half million books to inner city children, including over 199,000 in the last school year alone. In doing so, the organization has been instrumental in raising awareness of the burden of illiteracy, and has brought together formerly disparate groups and communities to combat a problem that affects us all.

Recognizing that illiteracy is so often symptomatic of poverty, RIF in Chicago has focused its resources on the city's most impoverished and underserved areas--communities in which books and literacy resources are a luxury rather than a right. And through the implementation of groundbreaking initiatives such as ``Project Open Book,'' ``Adolescents-at Risk,'' and the ``Young Women's Zine Project,'' RIF in Chicago has empowered children throughout the Chicagoland area, helped to strengthen inner city communities, and has taken great strides towards the goal of making education a right of every individual, regardless of one's socioeconomic status.

Madam Speaker, in a day and age in which illiteracy can pose a significant barrier to success in the professional world, I commend the extraordinary efforts and success of the Reading Is Fundamental Program in Chicago. In working to eradicate illiteracy in Chicago's inner-city neighborhoods, Reading Is Fundamental in Chicago has emerged as a unifying force in the same neighborhoods, bringing together families and strengthening communities. Once again, I applaud the organization's important work and thank them for over 37 years of service to Chicago's children.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Chicago Chapter of the American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER), an organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, on the occasion of the City of Chicago's annual Salute to LGBT veterans.

Founded in 1992, the Chicago Chapter of AVER provides support to LGBT veterans in the Chicago metropolitan area. Members of AVER have served in every war from World War II to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Each year, AVER members march in Chicago's Memorial Day Parade and in Chicago's Gay Pride Parade. By doing so, AVER members bear witness to the fact that gay and lesbian Americans have served throughout our history to defend the United States in time of war and to preserve our freedoms and democracy.

AVER fights not only for LGBT veterans but also for gay and lesbian soldiers currently serving in our armed forces, especially those who are in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan. AVER members travel to Washington every year to lobby members of Congress for an end to the ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy.

For fifteen years, AVER has fought against this detrimental policy that requires gay and lesbian servicemembers to deny who they are and to lie about their lives. Our democratic allies--from the United Kingdom to Israel--allow gay and lesbian soldiers to serve openly without any adverse effects on military preparedness or morale. This is the basic fairness and justice that AVER seeks for gay and lesbian American soldiers.

Madam Speaker, I also want to recognize Jim Darby, the founder of the Chicago Chapter of AVER and a Korean War veteran. Jim served in the Navy as a Russian-language specialist. Along with all the other AVER members, Jim has fought tirelessly to educate the general public and the Congress about the plight of LGBT veterans and active servicemembers. What AVER seeks is what we should all seek: respect and honor for all those who have served and who are serving the United States of America through our Armed Forces.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Genesis at the Crossroads, a non-profit organization whose mission is to bridge cultures in conflict through the arts and to create innovative arts- education programs around the world.

Founded in 1999 by Dr. Wendy Sternberg, Genesis at the Crossroads utilizes the arts as a form of diplomacy, using expression to foster understanding. The organization brings together ethnic artists to share their talents and unite their audiences in celebrations of diversity.

Art is the adhesive that keeps world cultures united. Artistic expression and appreciation are fostered by Genesis at the Crossroads through programs such as the HAMSA-Fest, which celebrates Middle Eastern and North African art, and Our World One Piece at a Time, a peace quilt program that fosters philanthropy and understanding among youth.

Genesis at the Crossroads creates the unique and rare opportunity to truly work in unison with those of differing and often conflicting backgrounds. The success of the organization, now in its tenth year, is a testament to the power of the arts.

We congratulate Genesis at the Crossroads on their ten-year anniversary and thank their artists, organizers, and audiences that have participated in their programs. Genesis at the Crossroads has proven understanding is possible regardless of conflict, when we combine passion for the arts and compassion for others.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Sweet Miss Giving's. This bakery with a social conscience has helped the homeless and HIV-positive of Chicago by creating jobs, teaching skills, and giving back to the community.

Sweet Miss Giving's arose to give the homeless and disabled of Chicago an opportunity to obtain practical skills through real world working experience. The bakery gives participants a place to work after completing job training so they may gain the confidence and talent enabling them to find work in the future. Their decadent baked goods are currently being sold at dozens of local businesses and restaurants around Chicago and over fifty percent of proceeds are donated to Chicago House, the first provider of AIDS housing in the Midwest.

Sweet Miss Giving's offers hope of achieving self-sufficiency for those who had previously considered themselves unemployable. I am proud to recognize the hard work, ingenuity, and charity of this bakery that improves people's lives and their prospects for the future.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Art Therapy Connection, a not-for-profit that has empowered hundreds of struggling students in the Chicago public school system.

Art Therapy Connection teaches students to deal with negative emotions and hardship through the use of creative outlets, which have consistently rendered them better behaved, more focused and more successful in school. Art therapy helps raise children's self-esteem by encouraging self-expression and providing them the opportunity to work through their behavioral and social problems in a fun, motivating way. In addition, Art Therapy Connection brings art to schools that have cut it from the curriculum through the Visiting Artist Program that connects students to artists in the community.

Art Therapy Connection has grown each year, reaching out weekly to over 150 students at five different grade schools and high schools in the 2008-2009 school year and is still expanding. I would like to honor Art Therapy Connection for working tirelessly to make art therapy available to as many students as possible. The program has proven to be an invaluable resource for children in the Chicago public school system.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule and in strong opposition to the Pence amendment.

At a time when we are consumed with discussions of expanding health care to the uninsured and on improving our health care system, I find this amendment confusing. The Pence amendment would effectively cut off 1.7 million women from what, in many cases, serves as their primary care provider, Planned Parenthood.

Aren't we trying to expand coverage, not limit it?

Thirty-six percent of women receiving family planning care through the Title X program do so through Planned Parenthood. Let's be clear: These services do not include abortion. Title X dollars are prohibited from being spent on abortion. The services we are talking about cutting include breast exams, the testing for cervical cancer, the screenings for sexually transmitted diseases, HIV screening, and family planning services.

Planned Parenthood has worked for over 90 years to educate women about pregnancy and to help prevent unintended pregnancies and, thus, the need for abortion. For 1.7 million, the only medical care they will be able to receive this year is from a provider at Planned Parenthood. Why, when we are working so diligently to reform our health care system, would we take away the only source of health care to so many women?

Vote ``no'' on this destructive amendment. Vote ``no'' on the Pence amendment.

I rise today because we cannot forget one important factor in the health care reform debate, that the cost of inaction far outweighs today's price tag.

We believe that we can live with our health care system as is; yet we forget, until we show up in the emergency room at 1 in the morning with our daughter who is sick, that there is already a bureaucrat in the room: our health insurance company.

We believe that those who are uncovered are costing us nothing; yet they are overwhelming our emergency care facilities and costing you, the taxpayer, overwhelming amounts in fees that they cannot pay out of pocket.

We believe that health care reform is synonymous with rising costs; yet we forget that costs are already on the rise. We're paying more out of pocket, whether covered by an insurance plan or not, and getting less.

If health care costs continue to increase at the rate they have, most American households will be spending 45 percent of their income on health insurance by 2016. Premiums have doubled in 9 years, three times faster than wages.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, the cost of inaction far outweighs today's price tag.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Dr. Kap Joon No. Dr. No, a first generation Korean, is a medical doctor at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago and is a well-known and well- respected member of the Korean-American community.

Dr. No served as the past president of the Arirang Lions Club, to which he is still an active member. The Arirang Lions Club has held an annual picnic for Korean adoptees and their families for over 30 years and have within recent years started organizing trips for adoptees to visit Korea through a partnership with their sister club in Seoul.

Dr. No has been also been instrumental in coordinating a free health clinic annually,

where over 400 community members are able to receive medical diagnosis and treatment that they would not otherwise receive. Additionally, through his own private medical practice Dr. No personally assists those in need. Not only is Dr. No committed to serving the community, his wife and his two daughters, both of whom are in medical school, are just as dedicated to helping those in need.

We may never be able to thank Dr. No and his family enough for the time and finances they have selflessly dedicated to others in need and we are not the first to recognize his humanitarianism and concern for others. Last year, The Chicago Sun-Times named Dr. No one of the ``50 People Who Make Chicago a Better Place'' due to his outstanding service. To further add to his distinctions, I would like to formally recognize Dr. No and his family's dedication to those in need and his service as a hero of the local community.