Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and thank Pat Gilardi for her many years of visionary leadership on the Cotati City Council, as she is stepping down from her Council duties to accept a position in county government. Ms. Gilardi has been an outstanding leader for the City of Cotati during her 15 years of service, and her hard work and dedication is reflected in the many projects and improvements she nurtured and brought to fruition during that time.

The city and people of Cotati have benefited immensely from Ms. Gilardi's contributions since the start of her career in public service in 1997, when she was appointed to the Cotati Planning Commission. Among the numerous projects Ms. Gilardi spearheaded was the Multi Modal Transit Village, now known as the Santero Way Specific Plan.

Ms. Gilardi would go on to be selected from a large group of applicants to fill a vacancy on the Cotati City Council in October 2000. She was elected to her first full term in November 2002. She was reelected in 2006 and 2010, and she was selected as Mayor in both 2006 and 2008. Ms. Gilardi has worked to guide the City of Cotati to fiscal sustainability, strong environmental policy, transportation alternatives, and quality community services.

In addition to her service on the city council, Ms. Gilardi served on a number of commissions and boards in Sonoma County, including her time as the Director of the Sonoma County Transportation Authority (SCTA) and Regional Climate Protection Authority (RCPA). While a member of the Board at SCTA, Ms. Gilardi represented the City of Cotati's interests for the Highway 101 widening project and other transportation related issues including securing funds, project oversight and long-term planning.

In addition to her public service, Ms. Gilardi is also the co-founder of the 4-H Club of Cotati, a former two-term president of her local Parent Teacher Association, and sat on the Board of Directors for the Cotati According Festival.

Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate at this time that we thank Ms. Gilardi for her invaluable service to the City of Cotati and for the numerous projects she has overseen and led to completion. Her exemplary leadership has left a legacy for our community that will extend far into the future as she moves on to her new role with the County of Sonoma.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor The Sonoma Hispanic

County Chamber of Commerce, of Santa Rosa, California on the occasion of their 25th anniversary celebration.

The mission of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is to promote and support Sonoma County businesses with a commitment towards creating a healthy business environment through education, civic, and economic programs. They are an association of individuals, organizations, and business professionals working together to enhance our local economy and foster a positive cultural image.

The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Sonoma County was founded in the spring of 1987, and has since greatly expanded its membership and endeavors. Originally known as the Latino Breakfast Club, it formalized into a network of professionals, entrepreneurs, business people, and community leaders--Hispanic and non-Hispanic--who recognize the importance of the Hispanic community and its impact on society.

In the last 24 years, the Chamber has raised over $280,000 for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Fund, which has been distributed to over 300 students living in Sonoma County. These scholarships have helped many rising Latino students reach their goals by supporting their financial needs. Bilingual parent/student workshops were instituted in order to complement the scholarship program, and have since provided information on FAFSA, financial aid, and the college transition.

In order to get further involved in the community, the Sonoma County Chamber of Commerce established the Leadership Academy, modeled after the well-respected program developed by the Press Democrat, The Press Democrat Leadership Forum. The Leadership Academy was created with the objectives of encouraging a new generation of leaders in Sonoma County and facilitating an ongoing dialogue that helps members of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce understand all the ways our hometowns are changing.

Members of the Sonoma County Hispanic Network have an opportunity to create a difference in the community. Through the membership their voices are heard in the political, social, economic, and educational arenas.

Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate at this time that we acknowledge The Sonoma County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for their extraordinary work.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize J. Matthew Mullan who is retiring after 23 years of public service with the Town of Windsor, California.

Mr. Mullan began his career in Windsor in 1989 as Assistant General Manager of the Windsor Water District. He was named Assistant Town Manager upon the town's incorporation in 1992.

As Assistant Town Manager, he served as a supervisor of community development activities, including planning and building inspection, engineering, street maintenance, and water reclamation. Mr. Mullan was also responsible for the franchise of solid waste and cable television. As head of Windsor's 5-year Capital Improvement Program, he various managed special projects including the design and construction of the corporation yard.

Mr. Mullan was appointed Town Manager in 2005. In this position, he oversaw development of the new LEED certified fire station, construction of the SMART train station, and preparation of the Town's Economic Development Strategic Plan. He also managed the connection of the Town's recycled water system to the Geysers Recharge Project, facilitating the transport of treated waste water from Sonoma County to the Geysers steamfields in the Mayacmas Mountains that straddle Lake and Sonoma Counties. All of these projects have been tremendously beneficial to the Town of Windsor.

As Town Manager, Mr. Mullan serves as Chair of the Sonoma Mendocino Area City Managers/County Administrators Association and is a member of the International City Management Association.

Mr. Mullan plans to spend his retirement with his wife Rosanne and their three children, and is looking forward to expanding his role as doting grandfather and avid San Francisco Giants fan.

Mr. Speaker, Matt Mullan has a long and distinguished record of public service. It is therefore fitting and proper that we honor him today and wish him well in his retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Liz Irwin, one of the Mendocino Coast's most outstanding community leaders, who passed away October 23, 2012, leaving an enduring legacy in the fields of rural health care and the needs of senior citizens.

Born on September 5, 1919 in Fort Pierre, South Dakota, Liz grew up in South Dakota, went to Minnesota State College and then to Colorado State College of Education, where she met her husband of 70 years, Horace ``Ace'' Irwin. The couple moved to southern California where Ms. Irwin received a master's degree in speech at California State University Northridge.

Liz was a teacher in Northridge and Long Beach before she and Ace retired to the Mendocino Coast in 1971. She immediately became an inspirational and dynamic force for change and social justice in this rural coastal community, always with a twinkle in her eyes. Over the years she tackled tough issues, serving as the director of the Bea Erikson Senior Center for seven years to ensure seniors received the services they needed. She was also on the Mendocino Coast District Hospital Board of Directors. One of her crowing achievements was the initiation of Health Watch, a group that persuaded the County Board of Supervisors to maintain health care on the coast by creating the Mendocino Coast Clinics, where she was the first Chair of the Board of Directors, continuing until 2004.

Liz motivated others with her sense of humor and radical, feminist spirit as she participated in the Gray Panthers, the ``Do-Gooders'' annual holiday luncheon benefitting the local food banks and Old Broads for Peace. Many on the coast remember Liz for the many years she authored her inspirational ``Coasting'' column in the Mendocino Beacon and her childhood reminiscences in her book, ``Home of the Heart.'' Liz loved her small town upbringing in South Dakota and told her family she never felt entirely at home again until she moved to the Mendocino Coast.

The Mendocino community showed its love and respect for Liz by honoring her as Grand Marshal in both the Mendocino Fourth of July and the Fort Bragg Paul Bunyan Days Parades.

She is survived by Ace, whom she referred to as the ``joint tenant'' in her newspaper columns, by her children, Bill Irwin, an actor based in New York, his wife Martha Roth, Patrick Irwin in Montreal and Nan Irwin, also living in New York, as well as two grandsons.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in recognizing and paying tribute to a friend, outstanding community member and role model, Liz Irwin.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Steve Chaney, Superintendent of Redwood National Park, honoring his 40- year dedication to our nation's national parks.

Mr. Chaney has dedicated his professional life to preserving our nation's abundant beauty. His career has included service in several different parks, from Arkansas to Colorado, Kentucky, Utah and Northern California.

Mr. Chaney has served in many roles, ranging from park aid, to ranger, technician and superintendent.

As superintendent of Redwood National Park, Mr. Chaney has worked to protect and preserve the health of the vast forests and watersheds of Del Norte and Humboldt counties.

In his role as superintendant, Mr. Chaney has worked to support California State Parks to prevent the closure of one of three area state parks; he has prioritized relations with the Yurok and other local tribes; has improved the culture of safety at Redwood National Park; has addressed illegal and ecologically harmful marijuana cultivation on park lands; and has overseen the effort to improve the park's second-growth Douglas fir and redwood stands.

Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate at this time that we recognize Steve Chaney for his dedication to our national parks and for his long record of service to our national park's visitors.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Bette Boyd. Mrs. Boyd has exercised the most important duty of citizenship, voting in every election since she registered to vote at the age of 21 in 1947. She has devoted her time and efforts to community endeavors and good citizenship since being first employed in war work in 1943.

When the demand for skilled workers was at a high in 1943, Mrs. Boyd went to work in the American Motors plant in Los Angeles. Shortly after, she was promoted to lead the work group of women engaged in essential war work. Bette embraced her responsibilities and welcomed the opportunity to contribute to the war effort.

Her first job after WWII exposed her to the need for a union voice and she began an organizing effort for the United Electrical Workers. She advocated for better wages and working conditions for men and women engaged in assembly line work. Bette took fellow workers out on strike and experienced for the first time the power of owners and management when the strike was broken. After the Vietnam War, Bette met refugees from south-east Asia who needed help adjusting to American life. She assisted refugees in securing employment and was responsible for integrating 1500 refugee families into American culture.

Through her work with Vietnamese refugees, Bette became aware of the onset of AIDS in Los Angeles and the Bay Area. She volunteered to work with AIDS patients at an early point in the epidemic that would become a global scourge. She met Mother Teresa and helped establish an AIDS clinic in India. Bette continues her work with AIDS patients today.

Bette became involved with the poor in India. She proposed to provide funds to improve educational opportunities in a rural South India village and insisted that girls be offered the same educational opportunities as boys. She contributed to the construction of a school that would touch hundreds of children. Today that school in Madahalli, Karnataka State enrolls 850 children.

Bette moved to Humboldt County in 1993 and has been involved in volunteer work ever since. Her work ranges from helping cancer patients get treatment to working with HIV patients, and helping the mentally ill. She is a stalwart at Democratic Headquarters and is regularly at booths and street fairs. She encourages all who are eligible to register and vote, thereby fulfilling the first duty of citizenship.

Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate at this time that we recognize Bette Boyd for her outstanding service to a global citizenry.

Mr. Speaker, on September 19, 2012, I missed rollcall vote No. 585. Had I been present, I would have voted in the following manner:

Rollcall No. 585, ``aye.''

I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I rise in opposition to this political poppycock.

I've got a real personal interest in this issue in this legislation. When I was in the State senate, I wrote California's welfare reform legislation, and the work requirement was a major part of that. It was a bipartisan effort in California. It was signed by a Republican Governor, Pete Wilson; and today it's still being followed by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown.

Welfare reform has worked. Fifteen years later, the program caseload in California is roughly 60 percent of what it was in 1998--even in the face of this terrible recession that we're looking at today. Waivers were an important part of that, as they are in every State across the Nation. Those waivers allow flexibility to Governors to run Federal programs in the most effective and the most efficient way possible. One size does not fit all, and that's why we have these waivers. In this case, they work because they move more people from welfare to work, and that's what we want.

This bill should be roundly defeated.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues, Representatives Farr, Garamendi, McNerney, and Woolsey, to recognize Lincoln ``Ed'' Burton, State Conservationist of USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service in California for the past 7 years, and a conservationist with that Agency in numerous western states for the past 48 years. Mr. Burton has dedicated his life to helping farmers and ranchers find conservation solutions to natural resource concerns in ways that respect both the economic and environmental contributions made by agricultural producers.

Mr. Burton has become known for his inclusiveness, diplomacy, and transparent, leadership style in administering and strategically investing $840 million in federal conservation funding to protect natural resources on cropland, rangeland and non-industrial forestland. He has expanded and enhanced wildlife habitat for common and impaired species--notably the Greater Sage Grouse.

Mr. Burton has contributed to the long-term preservation of farmland, essential to our Nation's ability to feed itself. Under his watch, farmers voluntarily enrolled historical wetlands for long-term protection so that today the Agency is responsible for the restoration of one fourth of California's current functioning wetlands.

Mr. Burton's leadership provided water quality planning and implementation services on more than 1400 dairies in California, helping the industry address the regulatory requirements they faced amid difficult economic times to protect the quality of California's surface and groundwater while helping to maintain economic viability for one of the State's top agricultural industries.

Mr. Burton oversaw a significant expansion in the air quality achievements of the Agency, helping farmers claim emissions reductions of over 1600 tons of nitrogen oxides each year.

Mr. Burton has been a staunch advocate for conservation planning to make the best possible advancements in the management and health of cropland, rangeland and forests, protecting on-farm soil, water, air and habitat resources in a manner that is acceptable and consistent with economic sustainability.

Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate at this time that we recognize our public servant, Ed Burton, for his visionary leadership and contributions to California's natural resources and his dedication to our agricultural communities.

I thank the chairman for yielding time to me.

Mr. Speaker, I'm one of those Democrats that the ranking member talked about that would prefer a 3-year extension of this measure, but I'm going to vote for H.R. 5949, the FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012, also known as the FAA. I support this legislation because it protects our security, preserves our freedom, and has proven to respect our civil liberties in the process.

In 2008, many of us were rightly concerned about this program being created and used as a back door for collecting information on law- abiding Americans. I voted against the FAA in 2008, in part because of these civil liberty concerns. However, as a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I believe the abuses that we feared have just not materialized.

But let me be clear, and this and future administrations are being given fair warning. My colleagues and I on the House Intelligence Committee will continue to receive reports on FISA information collection. These reports must continue to be detailed and specific. If there are any abuses or problems stemming from the application of this program, I'm certain that this Congress will move swiftly to correct them. So far, the application of the FAA has gained our trust, but we will continue to verify how the FAA is being used. Trust, but verify.

Mr. Speaker, the FAA provides the tools we need to collect vital counterterrorism information in foreign intelligence. I will vote in favor of H.R. 5949, the FISA Amendments Act.

Mr. Speaker, I along with Representative Chu rise today in honor and celebration of American Olympian Kim Rhode, who became the first American to earn an individual medal in five straight Olympic Games following her gold-medal performance on July 29 in the women's skeet shooting event in London.

A native of California, Rhode has been competing in trap and skeet shooting events since she was a child. She won a gold medal in her first Olympics as a teenager--in the 1996 Atlanta Games--and has since earned bronze in Sydney (2000) and gold in Athens (2004), all in the trap event. She also won a silver medal in the 2008 Beijing skeet competition. This accomplishment makes her just the 8th U.S. woman Olympian to have won at least five medals in individual competitions.

With her near-perfect score, Rhode set an Olympic record last Sunday, hitting 99 of a possible 100 targets, tying the highest mark ever achieved in skeet-style competition. She scored perfect 25-of-25 figures in the first two rounds of competition, ending her streak at 65 made shots when she had her first and only miss in the third round. Rhode closed out the final round with another perfect 25, finishing eight shots ahead of the first runner-up.

A model athlete and competitor, Rhode's consistency and persistence have defined her career and its success. Though she remains a tough competitor at age 33, Rhode has stayed family-oriented and remarkably balanced for an athlete of her caliber. She shoots for fun with her husband, Mike Harryman, and her principal coach and trainer is still her father, Richard; her mother, Sharon, helps to manage a schedule filled with sponsorship obligations and speaking engagements. Despite all her successes, those closest to Rhode say she remains passionate about the sport for the best of reasons--her own personal enjoyment.

Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate at this time that we congratulate and praise Kim Rhode's accomplishments thus far, and wish her the best in future competitions. She is a role-model for young athletes in America and across the globe, and she is deserving of our most honorable recognition.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in celebration and praise of St. Helena High School, my alma mater and one of the oldest public education facilities in northern California, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.

Founded in June of 1912, upon the completion of what is now known as Vintage Hall, St. Helena Union High School represents the culmination of a long-standing effort to unify the various school districts of the St. Helena area, including those of Pope Valley, Conn Valley and Angwin. Early efforts to provide free, public education, beginning in the 1890s, combined the regions under a single governing board, but classes had to be held in the local Presbyterian Church from 1895 until completion of the building nearly 20 years later.

Today, St. Helena High School's facilities have expanded far beyond Vintage Hall to accommodate the demands of the community's growing student population. And this year, the school became home to a new $13.5 million vocational education complex, complete with a state-of- the-art culinary facility, animal barn, agricultural mechanics workshop and all of the amenities of 21th century classrooms. With these facilities in place, students will benefit from a top-flight vocational training program, essential to the development of a skilled work force and subsequent community improvements.

Students at St. Helena High School will now be afforded the unique opportunity to prepare for careers in the areas of hospitality, tourism, the culinary arts, floral design, agricultural husbandry, and mechanics, continuing the historic tradition that St. Helena High School started so many years ago.

Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate at this time that we congratulate the students, educators and administrators of St. Helena High School, past and present. The centennial celebration in St. Helena is one that is well-deserved. We extend our best wishes to the school and community for many more years of outstanding public education and the merits that come with.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Marine Debris Act Reauthorization Amendments, which is important legislation to my district in Northern California and the West Coast. This bipartisan legislation will maintain current efforts to remove marine debris from our coastlines, provide updates on the status of marine debris, and prevent redundant activities among state and federal agencies.

Marine debris has been a problem for our oceans and coasts for decades. Trash has been filling our oceans and thereby impacting human health, harming wildlife, and littering our favorite beaches. For over 25 years, we have been relying heavily on volunteers, non-governmental organizations, and local governments to patrol our shores and pick up our trash. For example, in 2010 more than 5,400 cars could have been outfitted with the tires found during beach cleanup efforts. The work of these volunteers and organizations is invaluable and they need our help. Not only in terms of their planned cleanup activities, but to help in times of catastrophic events that create debris that is beyond physical and fiscal capabilities to remove.

Today, marine debris is of even more concern since a massive tsunami tragically struck the coastline of Japan 16 months ago. The disaster claimed nearly 16,000 lives, injured 6,000, and destroyed or damaged well over a million buildings with 130-foot waves.

Studies by the Japanese government estimate approximately 5 million tons of debris was swept into the ocean. Of that, 1.5 million tons are thought to be heading towards the West Coast of the United States.

As the Congressional representative for the longest coastline in the lower 48 states, the impending arrival of the tsunami debris is of utmost concern. It is essential that we have fully developed contingency plans to remove debris that hits our shores, especially objects that are considered hazardous.

Over the past few months, debris from the Japanese tsunami (ranging from soccer balls to 66-foot piers) has landed along the Pacific Coast of the United States. It is clear we cannot deal with this issue without proper funding and resources. In this economic climate, we need to think critically and creatively to develop funding solutions that address this increase in marine debris.

The reauthorization of the Marine Debris Program by this legislation will facilitate national and international efforts to research, prevent, and reduce the impacts of garbage on our shores. Once we pass this crucial legislation, the next step is to provide funding to our states to handle both emergency debris issues and everyday trash problems.

Marine debris is a global problem with local implications. More than ever, we need knowledge and guidance on marine debris and I urge a yes vote for H.R. 1171.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I rise in opposition to this bill.

It's interesting. Today's the 1-year anniversary of the enactment of the Budget Control Act, and that came about and left us with this impending sequestration. So let's remember why we passed the Budget Control Act.

We passed it because it was a compromise reached in order to raise the debt ceiling, which the House majority was refusing to allow to be raised. They were refusing to raise the debt ceiling because they said that they were concerned and they cared about our Nation's debt.

But just yesterday, that same House majority passed a bill that will add over $400 billion to our national debt in just 1 year, a bill that continues tax cuts that added $3 trillion to our debt over the last decade and that history has shown didn't help economic growth. Now we have this bill on the floor to mandate strict parameters of tax reform.

I want to do tax reform, Mr. Speaker. There isn't any one of us who doesn't want to do tax reform, but this is the wrong way to go about it. Locking in certain rates and certain rules is not how tax reform is done and can lead to very serious unintended consequences, like exploding our national debt.

Yesterday, the Tax Policy Center released a review of Mitt Romney's tax plan, which is not dissimilar to the principles in this underlying bill. The study found, and I quote:

It is not mathematically possible to design a revenue-

neutral plan that preserves current incentives for savings

and investment and that does not result in a net tax cut for

the highest-income taxpayers and a net tax increase for

lower- and middle-income taxpayers.

The Joint Economic Committee confirmed today that the plan in this bill would mean that people who make under $200,000 a year would see their taxes raised, in this case, by about $4,500, while millionaires would see tax breaks of over--hold on to your hat--$300,000. And there's nothing in this bill that says that tax reform will not increase our debt.

We should do tax reform, and we should do it in a deliberative, thoughtful way, rather than by passing bills saying that we should do tax reform. For this reason, I strongly urge everyone to vote ``no'' on this piece of legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

I rise for the purpose of a colloquy between my friend, the chairman from Florida, and the ranking member, my friend from Indiana.

I was planning to introduce an amendment on this issue, an amendment that would require the Department of Defense to buy American flags that are made in America by American workers using American-grown and manufactured materials.

Wherever an American flag is flown, it's a symbol of the freedoms men and women throughout our history have marched, fought, and died to secure.

There's no greater symbol of our country, our unity, our freedom, and our liberty than our flag.

The Veterans Administration is already required, by law, to purchase 100 percent American-made flags of American-made materials to drape the caskets of each deceased war hero.

I understand that there are already requirements prohibiting the Department of Defense from purchasing certain items not produced in the United States, but there are no requirements for the Department of Defense to purchase American-made American flags.

I believe it's important that every American flag the Department of Defense buys should be made in America by American workers with American materials. It's as simple as that.

At a time when our domestic manufacturing sector is struggling, and millions in our country are out of work, it's a slap in the face to all Americans to have their tax dollars spent on flags that are made overseas.

I ask the gentlemen here today with me, do you share my concerns about this issue? Will you and the ranking member, Mr. Chairman, work with me to address this omission, and help to ensure that the brave men and women in uniform receive American-made American flags?

I yield to the gentleman.

Reclaiming my time, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I look forward to working with you.

I yield to my friend, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Visclosky), the ranking member.

Reclaiming my time, Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Florida and the gentleman from Indiana, and look forward to working with both of them and others in the House to ensure that we can bring this to resolution.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Amendment Offered by Mr. Runyan