Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge legislative action on a widespread public health crisis.

I want to thank, first of all, my colleagues, especially my good neighbor and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, the gentleman from Kentucky, Mr. Hal Rogers, Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack, and Congressmen Steve Lynch and Bill Keating--whom you'll hear from in a moment--all tremendous leaders in our fight to stop this epidemic.

The CDC has confirmed what local leaders and professionals across the board have been struggling with daily: prescription drug abuse is a national epidemic--a term the CDC does not use lightly.

It is no longer a silent epidemic. It can be seen at any hour of any day on street corners and in school yards. Every day, there are new stories reporting overdoses, deaths, accidents, and tragedies of families torn apart by the vicious cycle of prescription drug abuse. And the cycle is certainly vicious.

Unlike cocaine or heroin, prescription drugs are legal and frequently prescribed by caring physicians who are led by the principle oath of ``first do no harm.'' Yet, alarming statistics show that children and adults are blind to the harmful consequences of these drugs even as they become addicted, paying upwards of $150 per pill to buy them on the black market.

Distressingly, my home State of West Virginia has our Nation's highest rate of drug-related deaths. In fact, between 2001 and 2008, more than 9 out of 10 of those deaths involved prescription drugs. Incredibly, drug overdoses now kill more West Virginians each year than do car accidents.

But the alarming use and deaths by prescription drugs is not just in West Virginia. As other distinguished Members will tell you, prescription drug abuse hits everyone, whether you're 9 or 90, whether you're rich or poor, living in big cities or small towns, whether you're Democrat, Independent, Republican, or whatever, anywhere in our great United States.

We know there is no one single answer, no single action, and no silver bullet in the fight against prescription drug abuse. I've met many times with law enforcement, community organizations, educators, physicians, and many other constituents, and I know that fighting back against prescription drug abuse will take the work of an entire village.

We must strengthen drug diversion, educate children and adults on prevention, work with the medical community on addiction and pain treatment, and treat and rehabilitate those affected by vicious addiction before they succumb to the death spiral.

I and my distinguished colleagues have put forth and supported legislation that aims to combat prescription drug abuse. We know that something more must be done from a Federal level, and that's why I've introduced H.R. 1925, the Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. This bill would implement multiple measures essential to combating prescription drug abuse, education and training, monitoring, evaluation and enforcement, and it provides a good guideline to coordinate Federal, State, and local efforts to fight this epidemic.

The bill establishes mandatory physician and consumer education and authorizes Federal funding to help our States create and maintain prescription drug monitoring programs that all States can access. It would also set up a uniform system for tracking painkiller-related deaths, helping States and law enforcement professionals manage and report data.

The West Virginia State Police, our State's attorney general, and even physicians have all consistently stressed the need for access to a prescription drug monitoring system that is shared between State lines and updated in real time.

I know my colleagues have authored and supported similar bills, like H.R. 2119, the Ryan Creedon Act, which also seeks to implement targeted physician education on prescription drug abuse and addiction, and H.R. 1065, the Pill Mill Crackdown Act, which would help further eradicate pill mills throughout our Nation. These bills address critical issues that ought to be part of this Congress' effort to craft legislation to assist our States and communities in combating prescription drug abuse.

The toll of destruction and devastation heaped upon America's families and our economy by this epidemic demands that U.S. Congress must act, and act swiftly. So I urge my colleagues to move forward and bring legislation to the floor that will enable our communities to fight back against prescription drug abuse.

Let us act with dispatch and compassion and with an acute understanding of the enormity of the challenge before us. The future of our families and children and the entire health and well-being of local communities and our Nation depend on us.

Mr. Speaker, thirty years ago today, a young woman joined my Congressional Staff to help serve our fellow West Virginians in the midst of our State's rich coalfields. She hailed from the community of Holden and still resides there near her parents' home.

Though she was very young, she had a burning passion to help people. And so she has, by the hundreds, nay thousands, over the decades working from her home base in my Logan District Office. For years, once a week, she did outreach work, bringing the constituent services of this Member of Congress to the good people of Mingo County. Working from the Mingo County seat of government in Williamson, she keeps me abreast of the important issues confronting the citizens of the Tug River Valley, the demarcation line of the famed Hatfield and McCoy Feud.

To say she is a seasoned expert in agency process, procedure and practice is an understatement. She knows constituent casework inside and out. More importantly, Mr. Speaker, she knows the families of the coalfields, where they came from and where most of them are headed. She knows this because she cares, cares deeply that people are treated justly, and that justice is meted in a timely manner. She can scrap the varnish off truth faster and cleaner than anyone I know, whether you want her to or not.

In the office she laughs with family members when things go right for them, and at home in the evening, she sheds tears for them when they are troubled. Indeed her passion still burns brightly, though now through these many years, it takes on the golden hue of seasoned compassion. She knows just the right thing to say to put people at ease. Not the art of politics, just working the Golden Rule, overtime.

In these past thirty years, she has stuck with the people of southern West Virginia, through floods, blizzards and now a derecho. Her loyalty knows no bounds, even by Mother Nature's standards. Those in West Virginia's Third Congressional District and I are indeed fortunate to have Debrina Taylor Workman on our side because when the need arises, she can be a force of nature all by herself.

Members of Congress are indeed blessed with godsends like Debrina to help us serve. While we don't say it often enough, we are thankful for their many sacrifices on our and the good people we represent behalves. Please join me in thanking Debrina for thirty years of service to her country and its families. May the good Lord's blessings continue to shine upon Debrina, her son, Jordan, and her many friends and family.

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

As with health care in the aftermath of yesterday's landmark Supreme Court decision, it's now time to move forward and put the divisiveness which has plagued the enactment of a surface transportation reauthorization bill for the first time in decades behind us and coalesce in support of the pending conference agreement.

This bill makes a sound investment in America. Fifty-six years ago, a Democratic Congress and a Republican President came together. And on this day in 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the Federal-Aid Highway Act, which established the interstate system of highways. This historic piece of legislation created a transportation system in this country that awed the world. Yet in recent decades, our roads, bridges, trains, and transit systems have slipped into decline because we have failed to make the necessary investments to improve the condition and performance of this network.

The pending legislation will not completely reverse the course of this decline, but, at the very least, States will see no reduction in the infrastructure investment funding that they desperately need to tackle crumbling roadways, deficient bridges, and to secure rail- highway grade crossings.

The States and transportation contractors will have the ability to count on a stable source of funding through fiscal year 2014, sustaining and creating jobs, and enhancing the mobility and safety of American motorists.

Critical investments in transit will continue, reducing traffic congestion. And alternative means of transportation will continue to be a valued enterprise in which to invest, increasing the quality of life and the health of the American people.

To be sure, there are some glaring shortcomings:

The transit privatization provisions threaten service, not enhance it;

The environmental streamlining provisions shortchange public input and could very well lead to greater delays in project delivery;

The Buy America provision is lethargic compared to the bold and decisive strokes that I advocated;

The mandate to install black boxes on commercial motor vehicles will come at great cost to struggling independent business people, without any proven safety benefits; and

There's an ill-advised provision that has no business in this legislation, which harms our maritime industry by weakening our cargo preference laws.

When all is said and done, though, this bill is what it is.

As with so much legislation in this body, this conference agreement-- this one, in particular--means jobs, and it means that we will not have further layoffs. It means that we will continue to move our economy.

And when all is said and done, I will choose to vote for American jobs any day.

Mr. Speaker, before reserving the balance of my time, I ask unanimous consent that time on this side be temporarily managed by Mr. DeFazio of Oregon.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I'm happy to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), the ranking member of the Education and Workforce Committee, who has jurisdiction over the student loan section of this conference agreement.

(Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Madam Speaker, I'm happy to yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), a distinguished member of our conference on this agreement.

Madam Speaker, I'm happy to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), another valued conferee on our side.

I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Madam Speaker, I'm happy to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished ranking member on our Railroads Subcommittee and a valued member of our conference, the gentlelady from Florida (Ms. Brown).

Madam Speaker, I'm happy to yield 2 minutes to the distinguished ranking member on our Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, as well as a valued member of our conference on transportation, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings).

Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), who has higher jurisdiction over the flood insurance portion.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Altmire), a valued member of our Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

I reserve the balance of my time, Madam Speaker.

Okay. I'm ready to close, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, first I want to extend my deep appreciation to all conferees on this legislation, some 47, I believe.

I'd like to pay particular word of commendation to the chair of the conference committee, the gentlelady from California, Senator Barbara Boxer. She worked extremely hard on this legislation. She worked tirelessly to resist many, many, many extreme proposals that were lobbed at her by Republican House conferees. She worked to ensure that policies and investment levels of this legislation will serve America, and she did work in a bipartisan fashion.

I'd also like to thank my counterpart and the chair of our House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Mr. Mica, for his leadership. He has already spoken, and has many times, of the bipartisan nature in which we started this journey in my hometown of Beckley, West Virginia, and I deeply appreciate the hearings that he started there and his continued outreach across the country.

As this hard road progressed, there were some diversions along the way. There were efforts to sidetrack what we were trying to do in providing long-term funding for this Nation's infrastructure, yet we're here today to hail not the perfect bill--we've heard that many times in this body, and we're not considering the perfect bill. Yet we are, out of necessity, finding ourselves working together to extend our transportation program so that millions more American workers are not laid off the job.

I also want to thank my senior Senator, Jay Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, for his great contribution to this pending measure. Again, efforts were fought. Efforts on his part prevented the further degradation of any safety measures that were proposed in this conference agreement. We have a strong measure in regards to safety issues thanks to Senator Rockefeller.

This legislation will preserve American jobs. As I said in the opening of this conference committee, it's time that we quit taking those political jabs at one another and, rather, provide jobs for our people. That's what we're doing in this legislation. The contracting season is late, especially in many of our northern States, and our contractors need this legislation in order to have the certainty to sign those contracts that put Americans to work this summer repairing our infrastructure. We have put aside, I guess you'll say, our hard heads--I'm happy to say--in exchange for hard hats doing the work that's necessary to get our economy back on.

As with any piece of legislation, we've compromised in this bill--all sides have--which is part of the legislative process. I've always said that. There are some things in this bill we don't like and some things we like. There are probably 435 different ways this bill could have been written if each of us had had his own way to write a bill, but that's not the way the process works. With the process being what it is, we are where we are today, so I am here to support the pending legislation.

As I sit down, I want to also thank the staff for their hard work on both the majority's side in the House and on the minority's side, on our side, and the staff on both sides of the other body as well.

I want to thank our conferees on the House side: Peter DeFazio, Jerry Costello, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Jerry Nadler, Corrine Brown, Elijah Cummings, Leonard Boswell, and Tim Bishop. These individuals stuck with us every part of the way, and they truly had their hearts in improving our infrastructure and providing jobs for America.

So this is a jobs bill. I'm happy to support it, and I urge my colleagues to support this conference agreement.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I support the passage of the Food and Drug Administration Reform Act, which reauthorizes vital programs that will ensure the FDA continues to study and approve life-saving drugs and medical devices and work to prevent drug shortages of much needed medications.

I am concerned, however, that the Congress is not doing more to fight prescription drug abuse. Members of the House were not permitted to offer amendments to address prescription drug addiction when this measure came before us last month, even though the FDA has a vital role in regulating the addictive qualities of drugs that are manufactured and ensuring sufficient education and awareness for health care providers and the general public.

This conference report is a bittersweet pill to swallow. While it includes a provision that will ban the sale of dangerous synthetic drugs, which I support and the House of Representatives passed late last year, the FDA's programs could have been strengthened significantly to address substance abuse and its impact on our Nation's economic and security needs.

If one reads any newspaper in southern West Virginia, you will undoubtedly find downright scary stories of families, children and seniors devastated by prescription drug abuse, and the crime that it engenders. As many of my colleagues know, fighting back against this unending wave of abuse will take the action of all--local, state and federal governments. I have introduced legislation, as have a number of my colleagues who serve in the Prescription Drug Abuse Caucus, which would arm our law enforcement, physicians, and local communities in this fight--making it harder for pills to get into the wrong hands and be misused, and ensuring that all prescriptions are properly monitored.

Though this bill mentions the need to combat abuse of prescription drugs, it is not nearly strong enough, nor should we consider it sufficient, in addressing what has become a crisis in too many Appalachian communities. Our families and communities need more than recommendations--they need action, and they simply cannot wait any longer for help.

I urge House leadership to work with members of this body who are committed to fighting back against this plague and saving our communities to consider legislation that will stop this scourge.

I thank the gentleman from West Virginia for yielding, my good friend, and I commend him for his dogged determination on this issue and for his patience and persistence. I certainly rise in support of this motion to instruct.

This gentleman from West Virginia was, after all, the Democratic floor manager of the House bill which got us into conference with the Senate. It accepted the amendment offered by Mr. McKinley, which passed by a voice vote on April 18.

This amendment, known as the ``coal ash provision,'' is an important provision; and I, like many others, do not want to see it derail the entire transportation bill in its entirety. But I think if this body were to follow the instructions of the House, both in this motion and in the previous motion adopted by Mr. Walz of Minnesota, which instructed conferees to report back by June 22, then I believe we would have a transportation bill that this Nation would benefit from and our American workers would benefit.

Since 1980, the EPA has struggled to figure out whether coal ash should be regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and, if so, in what fashion. As of this date, 32 years later, no EPA regulation is in place.

The Agency had its shot, and now it's time to move on. The provision by the House is aimed at the States bolstering their programs governing the regulation of coal ash and includes enforcement actions if they fail to do so.

Given the nexus between the use of coal ash and the manufacturing of cement and that product's use in our transportation system, it is an appropriate matter to be considered within the scope of the conference of the transportation bill.

Contrary to some remarks we've heard on the floor today, these motions to instruct do not delay the work of conferees. Being a conferee myself, I know that the conference continues to meet with proposals going back and forth.

We're currently playing ping-pong on a lot of these proposals, but that's good. It means that we're talking, and it means the process is going forward. I'm very optimistic and hopeful that we can reach agreement sooner rather than later so that America's economy can continue to recover and American workers can go back to work with certainty.

Mr. Speaker, like many Americans, I was taken aback by the Administration's announcement last week that it would decline to enforce the law when it comes to the deportation of illegal aliens who were brought to our Nation as young children.

I believe that the president is wrong on this issue--as wrong as he can be.

We are a Nation of immigrants. We take pride in our immigrant roots. Southern West Virginia has a proud history of immigrant families and workers who migrated to the coal fields to live and work.

For every immigrant who came to this country legally, abiding by the process and respecting the law, this action is a slap in the face. For the immigration and border security officers, who are working and risking their lives to enforce the law, this announcement is a slap in the face. For the American workers who will be forced to compete for American jobs against immigrant aliens, this announcement is a slap in the face.

I share the frustration of many Americans in the stubborn refusal of the House Republican Majority in not taking action on critical legislation--a long-term surface transportation, budget and appropriations bills, and a host of expiring laws that run the gamut from tax breaks, to Medicare payments to our hospitals and health providers, to critical government programs; all of which are undermining confidence in the Congress as an institution and acting as deadweight on job creation and growth. To some extent, one could even argue the Congress has invited this executive action by refusing to act to strengthen our Nation's borders and immigration enforcement.

But, a chief executive's decision, to bypass the Congress and refuse to implement the law, is unacceptable. It may make for good politics in some quarters of our Nation, but it sets a terrible and dangerous precedent.

The Constitution requires the president to enforce the law. It authorizes the president to recommend changes to the law. It does not-- does not--permit the president to selectively choose which laws to enforce.

The Congress must disabuse the president and every future president of the notion that laws with which the executive branch disagrees can be ignored. More important than party, and more important than presidential politics, must be the upholding of the Constitution and seeing to it that the laws are faithfully executed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Princeton Tigers, the 2012 Class

AAA state high school baseball champions, who won the West Virginia state championship with a come from behind 7 4 victory over the Nitro Wildcats on June 3, 2012.

From little league to legends, the Princeton ``Nine'' have stuck together through thick and thin. There's a lesson in that for all of us. Teamwork is as American as baseball, Chevrolet and apple pie. Every time we have succeeded, we have succeeded together.

And, boy, did the Tigers ever succeed this year.

We all are proud of what they have accomplished together. They have the hearts of true champions, the determination of true all stars, and the talents of true all Americans.

And if you have any questions about that, well then, just ask Josh Wilburn--Coach of the Year--what this team is made of. Congratulations, Coach--way to bring it home--you deserve this honor.

There's not much I can tell Mercer Countians about baseball--a county where baseball is the county's pastime--from Little League to the minor league. And we know the value especially of Little League, as only the great Yogi Berra could put it, ``Little League baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets.''

Mr. Speaker, all in the Nation's Capitol, should take notice of what nine young men with grit and gumption can do when a seasoned coach brings out the best in each of them and turns teamwork into triumph.

Congress could use a few doses of Tiger spirit here in the Capitol, as well. Because when one participates in a celebratory parade with this community as I did, you know that it just wasn't nine guys on the field and their coach by the dugout by themselves in that championship game. It was the whole town rooting with them and for them.

Princeton High School is a special place. The city, Mercer County, the State of West Virginia, and our nation have invested in this community. These students are blessed with many fields and resources other schools can only dream of, and they have more choices in extracurricular activities than many can even imagine.

But, they have your priorities right, too. All nine student athletes graduated before they took to the championship field. Parents, boosters, coaches, teachers, staff and administrators are all fully engaged--day in and out.

The good book tells us that to whom much is given, much is also expected. Everyone should celebrate their well-earned championship today. But for all the tomorrows yet to come they cannot ever forget what this one day means--that hard work, determination, community support and spirit, good leadership and teamwork can produce victories throughout life.

As dependable family members, good neighbors, and fellow citizens there will be many causes to champion. Looking around Princeton High School at the Tigers celebration, I know I am looking at champions-- America's champions--on and off the field.

Congratulations to everyone in Tiger Country.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are necessary and have cosponsored and supported several bills in this Congress to amend the health care law before it takes full effect.

West Virginians--our working families, our seniors on fixed incomes, our small businesses--are looking for and deserve substantive action from the Congress to address rising health care costs and access to quality care and I regret that the only thing the House majority in this Congress has brought to the floor is a slew of bills purposely designed to generate gridlock and stall in the legislative process.

While I do not support this measure, I believe that the Congress has a responsibility to address the concerns that have been raised by health care providers and medical device manufacturers, and I hope that it will do so.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a group of distinguished West Virginia Veterans--the State's first Honor Flight-- who came to Washington today to visit war memorials and our Nation's Capitol. It was my privilege to meet with them so that I could personally thank them for their outstanding service. I am humbled and honored at any opportunity to meet such remarkable American patriots and to pay tribute to those who have done so much for us.

I welcomed them to their Nation's Capitol, and I do mean their Capitol, because without them and their service to our Nation, this old capitol just might not be here.

On this day they will visit the World War II, Korean and Vietnam Veterans memorials. I asked them while they are at the Korean War Memorial, to read the words chiseled in the granite wall there, ``Freedom is not free.'' Truer words were never uttered.

And, for their service, we, as a Nation, can never repay them, but I have to say, we darn well better never quit trying to honor them in our thoughts and prayers and deeds.

The Honor Flight is a measure of what the service of Veterans has meant to those who freely contribute to keep these missions of lasting memories for you going. We salute all those who contribute and help organize them.

And it's up to those of us in the public sector to stand firm in our Nation's commitment to Veterans' long term health care and other benefits.

From towns born of mining, to our state born of war, to a nation under God, each of West Virginia's Veterans symbolizes the depth of human giving and the height of divine compassion. One word best describes what our Veterans did: sacrifice.

What they, and those who served with them, sacrificed is reflected in the white and black granite of our war memorials. They serve as timeless reminders to all who pass their way that we must always remember and honor those who stood in harm's way so that freedom's light could continue to shine.

Every time a Veteran steps foot on the grounds of one of the war memorials, they honor all who did not live to see it. And their visit adds a living testament to the memorial's significance, when each returns home and tells family and friends about the experience.

These West Virginia Veterans defended our Nation under the banner of red, white and blue; and on behalf of a grateful Nation, I presented each of them our country's colors, Old Glory, to take home with them.

I am so proud of all Veterans and will continue to fight and to work with my colleagues in the House to address their needs. As a Nation, we have a duty and responsibility to support and acknowledge the great sacrifice that our veterans so willingly made for all of us.

So much of the Nation's greatness rests on the shoulders of these protectors of America--like the members of West Virginia Honor Flight-- whose commitment and duty to God, country, and family keeps strong the foundation of our republic.

May God always bless our Nation with men and women such as these:

Andrew Semonco--Age 88--WW II Vet.--Bluefield, W. Va.;

Harold Lee Dobbins, Sr.--Age 85--WW II Vet.--Beckley, W. Va.;

Robert Arthur Day--Age 85--WW II Vet.--Beaver, W. Va.; Frank

Martin Johnston--Age 90--WW II Vet.--Bluefield, Va.; Howard

B. Candler--Age 86--WW II Vet.--Bluefield W. Va.; Joseph

Laenen--Age 84--WW II Vet.--Montcalm, W. Va.; Cecil

Pennington--Age 83--WW II Vet.--Princeton, W. Va.; Buford S.

Helmandollar--Age 86--WW II Vet.--Princeton, W. Va.; William

D. Foley--Age 87--WW II Vet.--Crab Orchard, W. Va.; Ralph L.

Kiblinger--Age 82--WW II Vet--Beaver, W. Va.

Victor T. Birchfield--Age 89--WW II Vet.--Lester, W. Va.--

joined Army in 1940's in Hotchkiss, W. Va.--Sgt., served in

the European Theater in combat units, infantryman; Bruce

Blevins--Age 86--WW II Vet.--Princeton, W. Va.; Eugene Lusk--

Age 87--WW II Vet.--Herndon, W. Va.; Leonard (Whitey)

Beckett--Age 87--WW II Vet.--Princeton, W. Va.; James A

Harvey--Age 78--Korean War Vet.--Bluefield, W. Va.; Franklin

Sargent--Age 77--Korean War Vet.--Bluefield, W. Va.; Conrad

(Connie) Jenkins--Age 79--Korean War Vet.--Lashmeet, W.

Va.; Joel W. Birchfield--Age 64--Vietnam Vet.--Lester, W.

Va.; Raymond A. Desplaines--Age 60--Vietnam Vet.--

Bluefield, W. Va.; Alphonso Hancock--Age 74--Vietnam

Vet.--Bluefield, W. Va.

Ivan R. Freeland--Age 64--Vietnam Vet.--Fairmont, W. Va.;

David A. Simmons--Age 62--Vietnam Vet.--Bluefield, W. Va.;

Randall R. Lawhorn--Age 62--Vietnam Vet.; Robert B. Ashby--

Age 73--Vietnam Vet.--Princeton, W. Va.; Johnnie Williams--

Age 66--Vietnam Vet.--Bluefield, W. Va.; Justin S. Bays--Age

65--Vietnam Vet.--Bluefield, W. Va.; James L. Scott--Age 70--

Vietnam Vet.--Rock, W. Va.; Donald F. Sternoff, Jr.--Vietnam

Vet.--Bluefield, W. Va.; Ernest R. Rose--Vietnam Vet.--Age

63--Raysal, W. Va.; Jackie L. Etter--Vietnam Vet.--Age 75--

Bluefield, W. Va.

Richard N. Wirt--Vietnam Vet.--Age 74--Princeton, W. Va.;

Gary S. Bowling--Vietnam Vet.--Age 63--Bluefield, W. Va.;

Richard Sturgell--Vietnam Vet.--Age 63--Thorpe, W. Va.;

Stephen O. Beckett--Vietnam Vet--Age 59--Hiwassee, Va.; Laura

King and Marie Blackwell--Bluefield, W. Va. representing

their father and husband, David Blackwell, Vietnam Veteran

who passed away 4 months ago; Dreama Denver--Princeton, W.

Va.--President, The Denver Foundation, V Pres. Always Free H.

F. representing her deceased father Korean War Vet., Glen E.

Peery; Charles Thomas Richardson--Princeton, W. Va.--

President, Always Free Honor Flight representing his deceased

father WW II Vet., Clifford Richardson; Pamela Coulbourne--

Princeton, W. Va.--Exec. Assistant, The Denver Foundation,

Coord. Always Free H.F. representing her deceased father WW

II Vet.--Francis L. Fluharty; Steve Coleman--Bluefield, W.

Va.--Official Photographer, The Denver Foundation & Always

Free H. F. representing his deceased father WW II Vet., James

M. Coleman; Burk Allen Adkins--Washington, D.C.--Board Member

of Always Free H.F., Public Relations for The Denver

Foundation, representing his deceased father WW II/Korea

Vet., Stanley Adkins.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to honor one of America's newest National Elementary Chess Champions, nine-year-old Advait ``Adi'' Patel, who hails from Logan County, West Virginia. This Logan Middle School fifth grader placed first in the recent competition that drew 2,200 young people to test their skills, stamina and heart. We salute all those who helped organize the competition and who nurture our country's future generations. In Adi's case, beyond the thrill of victory and the satisfaction of success, we can find useful lessons for both today's and tomorrow's leaders.

Competing with the latest video games and their striking graphics has not been the easiest time for the venerable game of chess, but one thing that can usually trump the newest technology is old fashioned love; especially the love of a grandfather in India, who took the time and patience to teach Adi how to play the game during a visit.

Adi's parents have been very supportive as well, taking him to faraway tournaments and providing him lessons and online access to other players. Importantly, they are behind his pursuit as long as he still loves the game, another feather in their parental caps.

Likewise, Adi is as thoughtful off the board as he is during a tough game. He recently commented in a local news story that, ``It's fun to play, and there's no brawl in it--no fighting physically,'' Advait said. ``It helps me with school, too. Math is a lot easier now. I've had straight A's ever since I started playing, because it teaches you how to focus. There is a lot of thinking in chess.''

With our national focus on today's student science and math accomplishments translating into tomorrow's innovations and entrepreneurs, Adi's example sets exactly the right tone for his fellow students, teachers and school administrators alike.

Adi's chess coach, David Saville, believes a chess player's best skill is to be able to ``visualize the future.'' I think we can all visualize a brighter future with the talent, values, hard work and dedication displayed by Adi, his coach and family.

Mr. Chair, today, I voted in favor of Representatives Barbara Lee's and Barney Frank's Amendment that would limit Defense spending in the coming fiscal year to the amount authorized in the Budget Control Act of 2011.

I am opposed to House Republican efforts to rewrite last summer's budget agreement, unfairly shifting the burden for deficit reduction

to domestic programs while threatening yet another calamitous downgrade in the our Nation's credit rating.

A balanced approach is essential to achieving deficit reduction. I remain optimistic that the Congress can find savings in both domestic and defense programs. Certainly, I will continue fighting to ensure that cuts are not imposed that would harm our active-duty troops, military retirees, and veterans who have already sacrificed so much for our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct.

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

My motion is simple. It instructs the conferees to seize the opportunity to create more American jobs and to revive American manufacturing by closing loopholes in Buy American laws.

The House-Senate conference committee is seeking to resolve differences on the surface transportation reauthorization bill. But one thing we should be able to agree on right now is that every taxpayer dollar spent constructing highway, transit, and rail projects should help create jobs in America and not overseas.

American workers are still struggling to find work as our economy slowly recovers from the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. The construction and manufacturing sectors have been particularly hard hit. More than 56,000 U.S. factories have closed or moved overseas in the last 10 years, and 90,000 more manufacturing firms, most of which are small businesses, are at risk of going out of business.

Today, more than 2.2 million construction and manufacturing workers remain out of work. I have pleaded again and again that we must enact a well-funded, long-term surface transportation bill immediately and not let another construction season dwindle while Congress dawdles.

We must find common ground, and we must find it fast. As part of that effort, one area where I hope we can all agree is ensuring that the investments we make with this bill will be spent on projects that are stamped ``Made in America.'' We have the capability, the capacity, and the workers ready to get the job done here at home. Unfortunately, we are currently giving these contracts and these high-skilled jobs away to foreign manufacturers and workers.

This motion to instruct directs House conferees to adopt several bipartisan Senate provisions to strengthen the Buy American provisions. The other body adopted these noncontroversial, commonsense Buy American provisions by voice vote and without a word of opposition.

First and foremost, the Senate Buy American provisions close existing loopholes that allow highway, transit, and rail projects to be subdivided into separate contracts, meaning Buy American rules no longer apply to most of the work. The most glaring recent example--and we've all heard about it--of project segmentation is California's Bay Bridge project, connecting Oakland to San Francisco.

Even though more than $320 million of Federal aid highway funds were spent on the Bay Bridge project, the project was divided into 20 separate construction projects. As a result, 343,000 tons of steel for the project were manufactured in China by a Chinese State-owned company that had no prior bridge-building experience--no prior bridge-building experience, employed 3,000 workers on the project, including welders, polishers, and engineers. These workers could be American workers, with our engineers designing the bridge and our workers welding the girders on our steel manufactured here at home and guaranteed to be much safer.

The Senate Buy American provisions also ensure, through robust notice and comment requirements, that U.S. companies will know of potential waivers to the Buy American law before the U.S. Department of Transportation grants the waivers. This process will enable these companies to assess whether they have an American-made product that can be used in the project. And that is what this motion is all about, ensuring that American workers and companies get a fair shot.

Last year I introduced bipartisan legislation, H.R. 3533, the Invest in American Jobs Act of 2011, to strengthen Buy American. The bipartisan Senate Buy American provisions incorporate many major provisions from this legislation.

Although I believe that we can do even more to strengthen Buy American, particularly in the area of public transportation, the bipartisan Senate Buy American provisions represent a good start. We will hear from some of our friends across the aisle that we should let the conference committee work its will. But let's be honest with ourselves: a vote against this motion is a vote to continue to send jobs overseas, to continue to weaken our economy, to continue to allow our foreign competitors to reap the benefits of rebuilding our Nation with American taxpayer dollars.

Mr. Speaker, we have a responsibility to U.S. taxpayers to ensure that the investments we make in our Nation's transportation and infrastructure truly help rebuild America--our infrastructure, our companies, and our people.

I urge adoption of this motion, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Bishop), a very valued member of our Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to yield 3 minutes to the gentlelady from Ohio (Ms. Sutton), who's been a real stalwart and real fighter for Buy American provisions and American jobs.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Connecticut, Mr. Chris Murphy.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 4 minutes to a very valued member of our Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski).

Mr. Speaker, how much time remains?

And do I have the right to close?

I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

I yield the gentlewoman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. Speaker, I'm ready to close if the gentleman is ready to

yield back his time or close himself first.

Mr. Speaker, in conclusion on this motion to instruct, let me just say that the motion is in support of the Senate Buy American provisions.

The Senate-passed Buy American provisions are very similar if not exactly as the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee adopted on a voice vote, which was offered by the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Cravaack) during committee consideration of what was then called H.R. 7. So the majority has accepted this language in committee deliberation, and yet they appear to be opposing it as it comes to the floor today in the form of a motion to instruct the conferees.

I would say also that that Buy American provision that is in the Senate-passed bill that this motion seeks to accept does allow for the Secretary of Transportation to provide for other than U.S. made when that product that is needed cannot be found in the United States of America or when it is truly cost prohibitive to make that product in the United States of America. So there is sufficient waiver authority provided in the Senate Buy American provisions to allow the Secretary of Transportation to do what is in America's best interest.

But most importantly, by adopting my motion to instruct--and in conference hopefully adopting the Senate Buy American provision--we're ending the most egregious loophole that is used to export American jobs, and that is the segmentation of contracts that allows companies to circumvent current Buy American provisions.

Let me say in addition that I was here for most of the previous debate on the previous motion to instruct on the Keystone pipeline, and I heard a great deal of support from that side of the aisle urging American-made energy. I certainly agree with that principle. I'm an advocate of all-of-the-above--as long as it's domestic--in our energy policy in this country. And, I might add, I'm a supporter of the Keystone pipeline and have so voted in previous votes in this body.

But now it comes to this motion to instruct conferees on Buy American, and I hear just the opposite from the majority side by their rather silent opposition, but nevertheless stated opposition, to this motion because while they're for American-made energy, they appear to be against American-made products using American labor and using the Buy American label on U.S. steel and other products used in our highway construction and transit modes in this country. So it seems to me rather contradictory what we're hearing from the majority side in the debate on these two motions this evening.

So as I conclude, let me say that this motion has truly wide-ranging support. I recognize that the majority has inserted the United States Chamber of Commerce opposition to this bill, and then at the same time I heard reference to the deals and the contractual relationships and the other alliances that our United States--supposedly--United States Chamber of Commerce has with other countries to build these projects, again shipping jobs overseas. So I wonder if it's truly the ``United States'' Chamber of Commerce that's addressing this issue.

But I will list those that are supportive of the motion to instruct. The Alliance for American manufacturing, the American Institute of Steel Construction, the American Iron and Steel Institute, the BlueGreen Alliance, the Committee on Pipe and Tube Imports, the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, McWane, Inc., Municipal Castings Association, National Steel Bridge Alliance, Nucor Corporation, Specialty Steel Industry of North America, Steel Manufacturers Association, the Transportation Trades Department, and the United Steelworkers of America are among just a few of the groups that are supporting this motion to instruct.

So, again, let me say this is about--and I will conclude now-- American jobs. When it's made in America, Americans can make it, and we have too many Americans today that are not making it. They are near their rope's end. They're frustrated. They do not see Washington or the Congress of the United States as in any way addressing the real problems that exist out there in America and the real problems in their lives. They see us just passing the buck and continuing to argue among ourselves and appear to not agree on anything.

But this is something that we do agree on, as evidenced by the bipartisan manner in which this bill passed the other body--and we know how hard it is to get anything through that other body. But this transportation legislation did pass with over 70 votes in the other body--a rarity in this atmosphere today in Washington, but nevertheless something that happened. That's what we ought to be adopting here is looking at that bipartisan bill and following the other body's lead in this provision and in the entire bill itself.

So I conclude and urge Members to adopt this motion to instruct conferees.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Rule XXII, clause 7(c), I hereby announce my attention to offer a motion to instruct on H.R. 4348.

The form of the motion is as follows:

Mr. Rahall moves that the managers on the part of the House

at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses

on the Senate amendment to the bill H.R. 4348 be instructed

to agree to sections 1528, 20017 (to the extent that such

section amends section 5323 of title 49, United States Code,

to provide subsection (k) relating to Buy America), 33007,

33008, and 35210 of the Senate amendment.

Mr. Speaker, the glorious hills of West Virginia fell more silent than usual this past week. A familiar voice was quieted by the passing of an American original. This last weekend, we celebrated the life and legacy of Mr. Everett Lilly, who passed on to his heavenly reward after 87 years on this Earth. Until just recently, Mr. Lilly's voice and mandolin playing were a familiar melodious staple for the ears and musical souls of southern West Virginians and countless ones beyond our borders.

Everett and his brother, Bea, who passed in 2005, introduced bluegrass music, Lilly-style, or as Mr. Lilly liked to call it, ``American Mountain Country Folk Music,'' to our country's northeast in the 1950's with Don Stover and Tex Logan. They rose to international fame and toured Japan. Everett played two separate stints with the legendary bluegrass group formed by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. Most recently, even though he was well into his 80s, he toured with his own band, The Lilly Mountaineers, and taught classes at Mountain State University--passing on his knowledge and skill with mountain music and its accompanying lore.

The Lilly Brothers were inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame and the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. Everett received the Vandalia Award, West Virginia's highest folk life honor, in 2009.

Tributes to Mr. Lilly and his considerable talents continue to be written, West Virginia's Mountain Stage's memorial to him reminds us that country singer, Marty Stuart, called Mr. Lilly, ``God's mandolin player.''

Let me just add that all the words used to describe Mr. Lilly's legacy like entertainment giant, pioneering artist, and musical legend and icon are true I knew Mr. Lilly and know his family. They are friends of mine and the best compliment I can pay him is that what you saw was what you got. I don't think he had a fake bone in his body, and he was more than ready to lend a helping hand whenever, wherever possible. Indeed, as our hometown newspaper, the Register Herald, summed it up succinctly, Everett was genuine.

Among the tens of thousands Mr. Lilly enlightened and entertained over the decades was everyone from presidents to just plain good people. Though he achieved international fame and the composition of his audiences would drastically change from venue to venue, he never did. Whether he was on the world stage or staged in front of a family barn here in southern West Virginia, Everett never strayed from his deep roots in Clear Creek, West Virginia.

The New York Times ran a warm story on Mr. Lilly's many accomplishments and concluded with perhaps what he considered his greatest, his family. Mr. Lilly's son, Jiles, preceded him in death, but he is survived by his wife of 64 years, JoAnn; three sons, Daniel, Mark and Everett Alan; four daughters, Karen Pierangelino, Diana Tomah, Ann Lilly and Laverne Wheeler; a sister, Flossie Williams; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

``He played music right up to the end,'' Daniel Lilly told the Times. ``He was enjoying life and still riding his four-wheeler through the woods at the age of 87. He died at the kitchen table.''

He and his band used to play an old song that seems a fitting epitaph for his long happy career and life. I leave you with the lyrics to, ``Who will sing for me,'' confidant that the praises for Everett Lilly will continue to be sung by all those whose lives he touched. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, we all could take a page or two from the songbook of this talented, this beloved son of West Virginia:

Often I sing for my friends

At death's cold hand I see

When I reach my journey's end

Who will sing for me

Chorus

I wonder (I wonder) who

Will sing (will sing) for me

When I come the cross

of that silent sea

Who will sing for me

When crowds shall gather round

And look down on me

Will they turn and walk away

Or will they sing one song for me

So I'll sing 'til the end

Contented I will be

Assured that some friends

Will sing one song for me

Mr. Speaker, during this season of renewal, it is fitting that we recognize those who, through their service to the public good, paid the ultimate sacrifice. Today, every 53 hours a law enforcement officer falls in the line of duty in this country.

These men and women got up in the mornings, dressed for work, kissed their family goodbye, and went out the door just as we do each morning, but with one tremendous difference. As law enforcement officers, they knew the challenges of a most typical day for them, would amount to unimaginable odds for any of us to face on our best day.

What they viewed as just doing their job, the rest of us know goes to the heart of human courage and commitment. They died so the rest of us could live. Their sacrifice allowed us to grow, prosper and, for their families, as scripture tells us, ``to go forth and multiply.''

In this, our Nation's Capital, each year for the past several years on May 15th, a few blocks west of our Capitol Building, our country pauses to reflect on the noble and selfless acts of these officers who represented the law of our great republic. Here, at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial during National Police Week in a solemn and moving memorial candlelit vigil ceremony, Americans gather around our Nation's living tribute to fallen officers throughout the land.

Though it is a monument hewn of solid blue gray stone marble to withstand the ages--it is, Mr. Speaker, as alive as you or I. For on its face are forever carved the names of fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, grand paws and grand maws, cousins galore and friends to countless numbers of us. As long as we live, Mr. Speaker, they, nor their memories, will ever die.

This year, two names have been added to the face of the monument's more than 19,000 names of law enforcement officers who have been killed in the line of duty. These two sons of the State of West Virginia, two loyal public servants from the heart of the coalfields of Appalachia, and two officers of the law from Boone County, West Virginia, who were simply doing their jobs when the face and forces of evil struck to rob them and their families of any future.

All West Virginians owe them a deep debt of gratitude and we are indebted, as well, to

the Sheriff of Boone County, The Honorable Rodney A. Miller, whose invaluable assistance helped speed their acknowledgement and inclusion into this fraternity of honor and remembrance.

Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to the Coal Valley News, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, and the families for sharing the memories of the fallen with me which I humbly pass on for this Nation's greater edification.

Killed in the line of duty were Deputy Sheriff Jesse Rice Browning and Constable Cecil Alvin Ferrell.

Constable Ferrell was shot as he attempted to serve an arrest warrant. When Constable Ferrell allowed the suspect to get dressed, the suspect grabbed a shotgun and fired. Constable Ferrell sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen and died at the scene on October 17, 1937. He was 36 years old.

On April 9, 1917, Deputy Sheriff Jesse Browning was shot by an inmate who had attacked him and gained control of his gun before fatally wounding him. Jesse Browning was taken to Charleston, Kanawha Valley Hospital, via train where he clung onto life for several days until he passed from the Earth on April 15, 1917. Deputy Sherriff Browning was 39 years old. He had served Boone County for 15 years.

His body lies in a grave on a remote hillside in Barrett, W.Va. At the time of his death, he left behind a wife, Orpha Pauley Browning, and seven children: Glenn Browning, Marie White, Gladys Jarrell, Dennis Browning, Clyde Browning, Dassie (Scootie) Williams and Georgia Workman. He was predeceased by a son, Alvin Browning. At the time of his death, his youngest child was only three months old.

All of his children remained life-long residents of West Virginia. His descendants include 36 grandchildren and many great grandchildren. Several of these have been behind the effort to have their grandfather recognized for his service and sacrifice to Boone County, West Virginia.

Chaplain Grant Wolf offered these thoughts of comfort and hope, ``It was only a moment, but in that moment of madness our lives and the world changed. Hearts were broken and names previously unknown are now spoken with reverence. The moment passes, but in that moment we mourn for the life that was taken and grieve for the survivors, remembering the sacrifice made to protect and serve. It was only a moment but he is gone, a sacrifice made to give us a future. We pause in our sorrow reflecting what might have been--but then we press on for, by the grace of God, his memory still stands.''

I am deeply honored to represent the good people of southern West Virginia in the Congress. Life does go on for these two loving families, yet preserving the lives of their fallen relatives preserves not only cherished family memories, it fosters a legacy critical to the very foundation our country's future.

For if, Mr. Speaker, we are to remain a nation ruled by law and not by men, it is incumbent upon each of us to search our souls and find the strength and solace these brave officers achieved to protect and to serve us. May God bless such men and women as these and may such dedication reign forever in the home of the brave and land of the free.