Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I would like to request the House's attention today to pay recognition to Emma Frances Pitts Rhodes who celebrated her 97th birthday November 3rd.

Ms. Rhodes was born in Anniston, Alabama, to the late Frank and Margaret Pitts. She attended Ohatchee School and was a charter member of Saks Baptist Church.

She was married to the late S.E. Rhodes and had four children: Earl, Judy, Elaine and Brenda. She also has six grandchildren, 13 great- grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren.

I wish Ms. Rhodes a very happy birthday and many more.

Madam Speaker, I would like to pay tribute to a very special occasion today, the 50th wedding anniversary of Harris and Josephine Smith.

Harris was born July 12, 1941, and Josephine was born March 14, 1943, both in Ohatchee, Alabama. They first met at Ohatchee High School when he was in the 8th grade and she was in 6th grade.

On December 9, 1960, they were married in Ohatchee.

The couple raised one son, Robert Smith. Mr. Smith worked as an engineer with the Alabama Department of Transportation for 37 years. Mrs. Smith was a Business Education Teacher in the Calhoun County Schools for 30 years. Both are active in their church with Harris serving as a Deacon and Josephine playing the piano.

The Smiths are proud grandparents of Courtney Smith and Cassidy Smith.

On December 3rd, an anniversary celebration and dinner party will be held at Hill Crest Baptist Church in Anniston, Alabama with over 100 friends and family members.

I salute this lovely couple on their 50th year of their life together and join their family in honoring them on this special occasion.

Madam Speaker, I would like to request the House's attention today to pay recognition to Della O. Webb who celebrated her 103rd birthday September 15th.

Ms. Webb was born into a family of eight brothers. Her father was a sharecropper. She was raised in Alexandria, Alabama where she helped pick cotton and walked three miles to school every day.

Della married the late Ira W. Webb on October 21, 1923, and raised four children: Donald, Margaret, Doris and Judy in Blue Mountain. Ira worked in the local pipe shop and Della worked at Blue Mountain Cotton Mill and later in the school lunch room.

She attended church at Edgewood Church in Blue Mountain, and later helped start Saks Baptist Church where she was active in her Sunday school class and the quilting group.

I wish Ms. Webb a very happy birthday and many more.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may assume.

I rise in support of H.R. 1517, to grant special 2-year authority to the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, CBP, to correct a mistake in the hiring appointment for certain CBP employees stationed overseas at the pre-inspection posts. This corrective action will ensure CBP is able to keep trained officers stationed in key overseas positions.

This bill provides authority to CBP to noncompetitively convert employees mistakenly hired under an overseas limited appointment to permanent status. This action will correct the employment category and protect their Federal benefits and retirement.

There are approximately 35 employees in Ireland, Aruba, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Canada affected by this hiring error. Without legislative authority, the employees will be required to convert to locally hired staff or return to the U.S. and compete for domestic CBP jobs.

These employees have been working between 6 and 15 years in their overseas posts to ensure that travelers coming to the U.S. do not pose a threat. The CBP officers in these posts work in the pre-clearance program which deploys CBP officers at select overseas airports to conduct entry-level inspections before planes depart foreign soil for the U.S.

Through no fault of their own, these employees are now facing problems with their employment status due to a mistake made years ago when they were initially hired. With the passage of this legislation, we can fix this error and ensure that the employees continue their work and maintain their level of pay and benefits.

The development and consideration of this legislation was bipartisan from the beginning, and I would like to thank the bill's sponsors, Congressman Engel and Ranking Member King, for introducing the bill, and Chairman Thompson for his support in moving the bill out of the committee.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill and send it to the President in a timely manner.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today as an original cosponsor of House Resolution 1618. This bipartisan resolution recognizes the month of September as National Preparedness Month, during which government officials, the private sector, and individual citizens are urged to become better prepared for terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and other emergencies.

Earlier this month, we commemorated the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and honored those who were lost that day. Weeks earlier we marked the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and we were reminded of the lasting devastation caused by the storm.

These solemn anniversaries are powerful reminders of the threats we face and the importance of being prepared. Having an emergency kit, which includes basic supplies such as water, nonperishable foods, flashlights, batteries and other items, developing an emergency evacuation plan for your family, and staying informed about what's going on in your local area, are all steps that can be taken to become more prepared.

In addition to promoting these steps, House Resolution 1618 commends the employees of the Department of Homeland Security; other Federal agencies; State, local, and tribal government officials; as well as emergency responders and law enforcement officers who defend our Nation against terrorism. Their dedication to protecting our homeland against threats is one that we cannot and must not take for granted.

For this reason I have been a strong advocate of the Federal grant programs such as the FIRE and SAFER programs, which provide direct and much-needed support to our Nation's firefighters for equipment, staffing, and many other needs.

The Center for Domestic Preparedness in my home district of Anniston, Alabama, is another prime example of the Federal Government's commitment to first responders, providing premier hands-on training in disaster preparedness and response at no cost to the State, local, and tribal emergency responders.

These types of Federal initiatives help ensure that we do our part in providing the men and women on the front lines with the resources necessary to carry out their vital missions. I hope that we will continue to enhance funding for these programs, which also have the tremendous benefit of promoting a higher level of coordination and planning across all levels of government.

I want to thank Chairman Thompson and Subcommittee Chairwoman Richardson for their work on this resolution. As a House co-chair of National Preparedness Month, I urge all of my colleagues to support the measure.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I would like to request the House's attention today to pay recognition to Ms. Elizabeth ``Liz'' Ware Sims who will be honored by The Historic Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church.

Ms. Sims was born in Notasulga, Alabama, to the late Tommie and Emma Ware. She was their sixth child out of eight. She attended Shiloh Rosenwald School, Tuskegee Institute High School and after graduation, attended a business college in Montgomery, Alabama.

She worked for thirty-three years at Tuskegee University and then ten more at Auburn University.

In 2006, she began working for The Shiloh Community Restoration Foundation. Later, on August 5, 2010, Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church and The Shiloh Rosenwald School were listed on the National Register of Historic Sites.

Ms. Sims has two daughters, Charlene and Catrina, and three grandsons, Trey, Phillip and Caleb.

The celebration honoring her will be held on October 3, 2010, at The Historic Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church.

I congratulate Ms. Sims for her good works in the community.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3116, the Berry Amendment Extension Act.

This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to prohibit the Secretary of Homeland Security from procuring certain items--including textiles such as clothing, tents, canvas and cotton--unless they are grown, reprocessed, reused, or produced in the United States. By requiring the Secretary to procure certain items from within the U.S., this bill takes an important step in promoting U.S. job growth and supporting large and small businesses alike.

The Department of Homeland Security employs over 150,000 uniformed men and women who are dedicated to the Department's vital mission of protecting the homeland against a range of threats. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection, for example, employs over 21,000 officers and 20,000 Border

Patrol agents, and these numbers continue to grow. The Transportation Security Administration has 48,000 officers. The U.S. Coast Guard has over 50,000 uniformed personnel. These growing numbers represent an opportunity to produce uniforms and other materials in the U.S. to support their mission, rather than overseas. This, in turn, will help create American jobs in this troubled economy.

The bill provides for exceptions in certain situations, including procurements by vessels in foreign waters, emergency procurements, low- cost procurements, and if items of sufficient quantity or quality are not available when needed.

The bill also includes language requiring its provisions to be applied in a manner consistent with U.S. obligations under international agreements.

H.R. 3116 is a commonsense piece of legislation.

I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, as a Member of Congress who grew up in a family that depended on a textile plant check to put food on the table, I am proud to yield 3 minutes to a real champion of the textile industry, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble).

I urge Members to support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of final passage of H.R. 3978, the First Responder Anti-Terrorism Training Resources Act.

Thanks to strong bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, we are here today with legislation that provides the CDP with authority to accept donations of items such as railcars, subway cars, emergency response equipment, and other property and services that would help bolster training.

I introduced this bill last November to ensure that first responders who train at East Alabama's Center For Domestic Preparedness have access to all available resources that will strengthen their training activities.

This bill was passed by the House on December 15, 2009 by a vote of 413-1. On August 5, the bill passed the Senate with an amendment by unanimous consent.

I would like to thank Chairman Thompson and Ranking Member King as well as Senators Lieberman and Collins for their support of the bill in moving it forward in both chambers.

The CDP, located in my district in Anniston, Alabama, delivers one- of-a-kind, hands-on training to America's emergency responders. Training at the CDP is fully funded by the Department of Homeland Security. State and local responders from all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories have trained at this center.

Like other training centers, the CDP often receives offers of donations to assist their training courses. However, the CDP does not have the legal authority to accept those donations, and has been forced to turn them down in the past. My bill fixes this problem.

As amended by the Senate, the bill ensures that CDP may accept donations in support of its entire all-hazards missions. The bill also includes language to ensure that no gifts are accepted if they are determined to compromise the integrity or the appearance of integrity of a program of the department or an individual associated with the department, and the annual report to Congress on donations accepted must be made available to the public.

The bill would also authorize the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center to accept gifts under the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as it has been doing under the 2004 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act.

Simply put, this legislation is a win-win for our first responders, the American taxpayer and the Center for Domestic Preparedness; and I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I would like to request the House's attention today to pay recognition to the congregation of Gold Ridge Baptist Church, which celebrated its 175th anniversary this year.

Gold Ridge Baptist church, originating as New Hope Baptist Church, was the first Baptist church organized in Randolph County, Alabama. The first church was located at Graham near the old Shiloh Cemetery. The church was moved because there was no bridge across the river, and when it rained people on the west side could not attend the church service.

The celebration will be held on July 25, 2010 under their current pastor, T.J. Morgan.

All of us across Randolph County and East Alabama are deeply proud of this congregation at this important milestone. We congratulate them on their 175th anniversary and wish them all the best in their next many years of ministry in their community.

Madam Speaker, I would like to pay tribute to a very special occasion today, the 60th wedding anniversary of Troy and Patsy Kilgore.

In April of 1948, Troy Kilgore and Patsy Morrison met while attending Anniston High School. Troy and Patsy married 2 years later on April 9, 1950.

The couple resided in Anniston and raised three children, Dana K. Lloyd, Debbie K. Owen, and Patrick ``Sparky'' Kilgore. Mr. Kilgore worked at The Anniston Star newspaper retiring after 50 years of employment.

The Kilgores attend Alexandria Baptist Church, and are proud grandparents of Jamey Lloyd Robertson, Robert Owen, Rachel Owen Dietrich, Randa Owen Cash and Morrison Kilgore. They have two great grandchildren, Anna Kate and Parker Robertson.

I salute this lovely couple on their 60th year of their life together and join their family in honoring them on this special occasion.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk to you about jobs. I come into this Chamber often and hear my Democrat colleagues talk about how bad things were under the past administration, how much better off we are under this President.

Well, I'll tell you one thing President Bush gave us that this President can't give us, and that's jobs. In 2003 we passed the second largest tax cuts in American history, and we had 55 consecutive months of job growth in this country, the longest period of job growth in American history.

This President came into office, said, if you'll give me nearly $1 trillion in a stimulus bill, I'll make sure unemployment doesn't go over 8 percent. Well, we're at 10, we've been here for most of his Presidency, and we see no end in sight.

Well, now we're talking about the unemployed. We've got 10 percent of the people hurting. They're in pain. They need our help. They need unemployment benefits, and we want to give them to them.

The President says, and Speaker Pelosi says, well, the Republicans are standing in the way. They're cold-hearted.

No, the problem is, they can't get the Democrats to vote for it because they want to borrow the money.

We've said we want to vote for unemployment benefits, we just want to pay for them. We've told the President, just reach into your stimulus bill, unfunded stimulus funds, and pay for them there. He doesn't want to do that because that's a political trust fund.

He's using the unemployed as a political football, and if that doesn't make you mad, it ought to.

Madam Speaker, I would like to request the House's attention today to pay recognition to the Robinson Westbrooks family who will be celebrating their 100th family reunion on August 12- 15, 2010.

The Robinson Westbrook family is the oldest ongoing registered family reunion in the United States. It all started with Mr. John Bolin Robinson, Mrs. Dora Anne Westbrooks Robinson and their youngest child, Leonard Wilbert Robinson, who all share a birthday of August 16. The coinciding birthdays led to a tradition of getting the family together every third Sunday in August. The first official Robinson Westbrooks Family Reunion was held in August 1910, making this year the 100th celebration.

The Robinson Westbrooks family makes the most out of their annual family gatherings. They are registered at the United States Library of Congress and are a non-profit foundation that raises money for the Robinson Westbrooks' Educational Scholarship Funds.

All of us east Alabamans are deeply proud of the family's legacy and hope the tradition continues for another 100 years and beyond.

Madam Speaker, I would like to request the House's attention today to pay recognition to Colonel Sherry B. Keller's service in the United States Army.

Colonel Keller is a Virginia native who began her service by enlisting in the United States Army Reserve. She received her commission through the Reserves Officers Training Corps at Hampton University. Her career in the U.S. Army has taken her across the world from Fort Stewart, Georgia to Germany, and to Korea.

Currently, Colonel Keller serves as Commander of the Anniston Army Depot. The Anniston Army Depot is the designated Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence for combat vehicles, artillery, bridging systems, and small caliber weapons. Its over 4,000 employees provide critical maintenance support at the Depot and serve in direct support overseas. Her leadership continues to allow the Depot to be proudly known as the Pit Crew for the American War Fighter.

I greatly appreciate Colonel Keller for her service to our Nation, the Anniston Army Depot and our community. Her loyalty to duty, honor, and selfless service are in the highest traditions of the Army. I wish her all the best in her next endeavors.

Madam Speaker, I would like to pay tribute to a very special occasion today--the 50th wedding anniversary of Bud and Sherry Grinstead.

Bud Grinstead of Gary, IN, and Sherry Ryzenga of Holland, MI, met at Bryan University in Dayton, TN. In September of 1959, the couple transferred to Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

On June 4, 1960, Bud and Sherry were married at Rose Park Baptist Church in Sherry's hometown by Revs. Garland Cofield and James Gurley. After college graduation in June of 1962, the couple moved to Jacksonville, Florida to serve at Victory Baptist Church where their first two children were born. On May 26, 1965, Bud was ordained as a Baptist minister.

The family relocated to Oxford, Alabama in 1969 where Bud served as minister of music and taught the young adult class at Trinity Baptist Church. Their third child was born in 1970. That same year, Bud started Trinity Christian Academy (TCA). The school added a grade each year until their first graduating class graduated in 1979. Bud also started a radio broadcast in 1979. During their time at Trinity, Sherry taught piano lessons and a music class.

In 1975, the family joined the Tom Williams Evangelistic Team and traveled from church to church ministering to all. In 1978, they moved back to Oxford to serve at Trinity Baptist Church and in 1980, Bud accepted the position of pastor. The radio station, WTBJ, aired for the first time in 1994. Bud has ministered in every continent of the world except Antarctica and Sherry has taught full time at TCA for 28 years and is retiring this year.

Bud and Sherry have three children: Debbie, Darryl and Dawn and nine grandchildren. A reception in their honor will be held on June 26th at Trinity Baptist Church.

I salute my friends, Bud and Sherry, on the 50th year of their life together and join their family in honoring them on this special occasion.

Madam Speaker, I would like to pay tribute today to the professional teaching career of Dr. Frances K. Kochan.

Dr. Kochan received a degree in elementary education from the State University of New York at Fredonia in June 1962, and began teaching English as a second language on the Island of Yap in September of 1963. After returning to the United States, she served as an adult teacher at the Retarded Citizens Center in Medina, New York, then as an elementary school teacher in the Mannford County School District in Oklahoma.

In the summer of 1970, Dr. Kochan resumed her international teaching career in Guam, where she taught for four years. While overseas, Dr. Kochan received a master's degree in reading education from the University of Guam in 1974.

After returning from Guam, Dr. Kochan began her career with Wakulla County Schools in Crawfordville, Florida, where she served as a reading specialist, reading and language arts projects director, principal and finally as assistant superintendent and curriculum director.

In 1985, Dr. Kochan began her work in higher education at Florida State University, and received her Ph.D. in Adult Education and Policy Studies in 1994. She served there nine years before beginning at Auburn University.

In 1994, Dr. Kochan began at Auburn University serving as an associate professor, and then later becoming the Director of the Truman Pierce Institute. She began working as a full professor in November of 1999, served as Associate Dean of Administration and Research and finally became Dean of the School of Education in July of 2005, where she will serve until stepping down this summer.

Dr. Kochan has a received a number of awards throughout her career, including the 2002 Distinguished Educator Award from Florida State University and the Wayne T. Smith Distinguished Professor Award from Auburn University.

A celebration of her teaching career will be held July 22 at Auburn University. I congratulate Dr. Frances Kochan for her 47 years of service as an educator and join her friends and family in honoring her on this special occasion.