Floor Statements

Thank you, Representative King.

The opportunity to share some thoughts about Representative McHugh here this evening is something I relish.

Our work partnership goes back several, several years, starting back in 1984 when Representative McHugh--then as State senator McHugh--was elected to serve for four terms. He obviously understands the needs of the North Country. He was returned to office several times over, not only in that role as State senator, but then to go on here to the House of Representatives and serve with distinction many terms over.

The importance of interacting with people in a bipartisan fashion was something that was always easily done with John McHugh. He understood that we in government have the opportunity to empower our communities, various organizations, and individuals. Certainly, in his role in the North Country, he represented several higher ed institutions, like the SUNY center at Plattsburgh, the SUNY campus at Potsdam, St. Lawrence University, the Ag and Tech Campus in the North Country in Canton, and then the campus of Clarkson University, my alma mater. So we always had opportunities to work on great things for these campuses, and in particular, to focus on some of the science and tech activities over at Clarkson University.

Here in the House, John McHugh had served for over 16 years as a Member of Congress representing that northern and central portion of what is deemed Upstate New York. During his service, he forged these very strong ties with Fort Drum, and it's there that I think he created this strong record of staunch advocacy on behalf of veterans and on behalf of soldiers and their families, working tirelessly to ensure that they had the necessary resources for proper facilities for training and for quality of life to carry on with their mission, and then to also make certain that he provided for those loved ones who remained at home.

As a Member of this august body, John McHugh served as the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, which has been mentioned here this evening. I think it is there where he earned the opportunity to now be appointed as Secretary of the Army, by having worked with the Department of Defense and each of the Armed Forces. Certainly, his love for the North Country is very much defined by the work that he has done.

In closing, I would like to just cite two of the accomplishments that I thought spoke near and dear to my heart because of my work on science and tech as a committee and my work as the former Energy Committee Chair in the New York State Assembly. And being over at NYSERDA, being president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, I was happy to include John McHugh as one of those eight from the minority ranks in this House who voted for H.R. 2454, the ACES Act, the American Clean Energy and Security Act.

As we know, H.R. 2454 still looms out there as a measure to be completed by action that's required in the United States Senate, but there is no denying that if we can go forward with this legislation, it will help create millions of clean-energy jobs and save billions of dollars for consumers with utility bills that are ever on the rise.

This new economy and the new jobs generated by H.R. 2454 can spark that innovation economy, which would be key and premiere to New York State's economy and this Nation's economy. I have to applaud Representative McHugh for his work in that regard.

Secondly, as a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and after serving as Chair for some 6 years, I believe, of the Subcommittee on the Postal Service, John had done tremendous work on H.R. 22. I had the pleasure to help cast a vote in favor of the United States Postal Service Financial Relief Act of 2009. H.R. 22 will provide that sort of stability for our Postal Service system. And this House, with some 388 votes, voted in favor of the legislation that Representative McHugh had worked on so diligently.

In final comment, I just want to wish Representative John McHugh-- former New York State Senator John McHugh--the very best as he assumes his new duties. I have no doubt that he will serve the President's administration with distinction, and that he will provide a great service in a new capacity to this great country and to the military.

As we go forward, I know the partnerships with John McHugh will continue as we work in this House to make certain that those needs, those essentials are there as he continues in this new capacity.

So John, we wish you well and Godspeed as you serve this Nation now in yet another capacity.

I yield back to Representative King.

Mr. Speaker, I rise this afternoon to tell you about a constituent of mine who is waiting on Congress to pass comprehensive health insurance reform.

Karen Rozzell resides in Colonie, New York. She had to quit her job as a cashier because her diabetes got so bad she couldn't stand and she hasn't been able to find other work. When she left her job, she and her husband lost their insurance. They thought they could rely on COBRA, but it cost them too much and they were forced to let their insurance lapse. Her husband, a painter, doesn't have access to health insurance through his employment.

As a diabetic, Karen should be seeing a doctor regularly, but she doesn't. A couple of years ago she was hospitalized for a staph infection; she was only able to stay in the hospital until the infection was cleared up. She signed herself out before her doctors wanted her to because she knew she couldn't afford the cost. It took her years to pay that bill.

After living without insurance, her husband was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but the cost of his treatment and medication is out of reach for them. She told me she worries every time her husband sneezes.

No one in this country deserves to live in fear like this. We need health care reform.

Madam Speaker, residents of New York's Capital Region have been blessed to wake up each morning to the voice of longtime radio host Don Weeks. Since 1980, Don has hosted the WGY morning radio show, entertaining listeners with a mix of comedy and insightful interviews, all delivered with a friendly, neighborly charm.

Throughout the years Don has always put the community first, lending his talent to local fund drives and other special events, from re- stocking food pantries to emceeing the annual Red Cross Hometown Heroes Awards breakfast. He has been honored with several New York State Broadcaster of the Year awards, and a Marconi Award from the National Association of Broadcasters.

We'd like to congratulate Don on the recent announcement that he will be inducted into the New York State Broadcasting Hall of Fame. It is a fitting honor for a lifelong Capital Region resident who has dedicated his life to informing and entertaining others, and making our community a better place in which to live.

Madam Speaker, this May at a meeting of the Middle Class Task Force, Vice President Biden asked White House staff to develop a proposal that would grow clean-job opportunities and boost energy savings by retrofitting homes for energy efficiency.

In response, CEQ facilitated a broad interagency process to develop recommendations.

I commend those recently released recommendations and the leadership of our White House on energy policy. Through the Recovery Act's unprecedented investments in energy efficiency, we are making it easier for American families to retrofit their homes, helping them save money.

Existing techniques and technologies in energy-efficiency retrofitting can reduce energy use by up to 40 percent per home and lower total associated greenhouse gas emissions by up to 160 million metric tons annually. Retrofitting existing homes also has the potential to cut home energy bills by $21 billion annually.

We must continue to drill and mine energy efficiency as our fuel of choice, like we drill for oil and mine for coal.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3585, the Solar Technology Roadmap Act of 2010.

As a Representative and certainly as an engineer, I wholeheartedly embrace the soundness of planning. The road map here represents planning that provides for the most effective use of taxpayer and consumer dollars and also provides for the most commonsense approach to a situation that has really caused a great interest in America.

The previous administration spent down a surplus while it could have been investing in a sound energy plan. We now have no choice but to enter this clean energy race, which is global in nature. America will fall into deeper deficit in tougher times if it does not participate in the innovation economy driven by energy and environment reform.

This bill will unleash the potential of the American solar tech industry and boost our economy by creating jobs in this expanding new sector. It requires the Department of Energy to establish a solar road map committee to write and oversee a solar technology road map. The solar technology road map will lay out a detailed plan for solar tech research and development, help improve the performance and reliability of solar technology, and decrease the cost of solar for consumers and businesses.

Research and development funding will not only stimulate our economy and be the wave of energy innovation for the future, but it is also through R&D that we will be able to solve environmental issues, ensure the next wave of energy innovations occur right here in America, and provide those all-important American jobs to grow our economy and assist and relieve our American working families.

Solar has the potential to shave overall electricity prices for consumers as well as enhance capacity. This bill is crucial to catalyze both of these activities. In fact, this body previously passed a similar piece of legislation that I sponsored, H.R. 3165, the Wind Energy Research and Development Act. That bill looked at improving and making more efficient the materials used for construction of wind turbines.

In my district alone, there are numerous businesses and academic institutions such as the College of Nanoscale and Science Engineering at the University of Albany, which I toured this just this week, where thin film improvements are greatly enhancing and improving the opportunity for market penetration of many nanoscale applications such as solar energy. We will advance with this legislation and grow jobs and grow our economy and not reject the innovation that was rejected in the previous administration.

As the vice Chair of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, or SEEK, which is newly formed this year, we recognize that H.R. 3585 is an important bill and is therefore a legislative priority. As such, I want to thank the gentlelady from Arizona for developing such a great bill, one that speaks volumes to bettering our Nation's economy, speaking to our energy policy and our environment.

I encourage a strong vote in favor of its passage.

Thank you, Representative Boccieri, for bringing us together this evening. I can't agree more with you and the Representatives that have joined us here this evening, both Representatives Altmire and Murphy, who have indicated that there is an importance to looking at the big picture frame that should guide this debate and discussion. It is certainly about energy transformation. It's about energy security that's enhanced. It's about growing our energy independence. But it goes well beyond that. It is a factor; it is a huge argument that speaks favorably to our national security, to our economic security. I think when we look at that bigger framework, we're able to understand the ripple effect of benefits, of good, that comes from the negotiated efforts here in this House to produce a strong bill. For energy transformation, for climate change, for global warming to be addressed in positive, progressive terms.

To have listened to some of the discussion and debate on this floor that denounces some of the studies that were authored out there, where the authors of those studies have suggested to us that you're overstating, exaggerating, if not outright denouncing studies that have been put together that speak favorably to these sorts of investments have not stopped people from using misinformation and growing the arguments out there that are unfounded, unfounded and unsubstantiated by evidence and by truth and by documentation that has been established.

I think it's important for us to look at the facts. If we're willing to continue to invest hundreds of billions of dollars into foreign treasuries, to continue to rely in a gluttonous measure on fossil-based fuels for our energy agenda, shame on us as a nation. We have an opportunity here to go forward with a green energy economy that can create jobs of various disciplines, from Ph.D.s over to those with bachelor's degrees, over to those who have associate degrees and skill sets that have been developed with apprenticeship programs, with voc ed programs. Across the board, we have an opportunity to invest in all sorts of disciplines out there that strengthen our economy and strengthen our comeback for job creation and job retention in this nation.

Just the other day we were talking to people in my district from the nanoscience arena. And in a generalization of that arena, what they see from start-up businesses is that we have about 20 percent of Ph.D.s and master's degree holders occupying jobs at those centers, at the various start-up businesses that are being established; we have perhaps 20 percent with bachelor's degrees; and then some 60 percent occupied jobs that are bringing to that table associate degrees and technical training. So I think it's very evident, very obvious, by these calculable sorts of outcomes that speak to what's happening in my district that we're growing jobs in every sphere, in every dimension, with all sorts of skill sets that are required.

It is important for us to go forward with this green energy race. And we don't have a choice whether or not to enter in. We have a choice to be as prepared in that race as possible. I liken this to the space race of four decades ago, where this country vigorously pursued with a degree of passion, a high degree of passion, the efforts to land a person on the Moon. That was more than just a race to land a person on the Moon. It was a growth of technology in all sorts of areas in our life that define our quality of life: in communications, in health care, in all sorts of technical advancements in our society. And it allowed for us to think in bold and very noble terms about the importance of science and technology.

Here today, many more nations are joining in a race, a global race, on green energy, clean energy. And we don't have the luxury to stand along the sidelines and watch other nations prosper and pass us by. That's what will happen if we don't go forward with a plan, an energy plan, that will calculate jobs, that will allow for us to invest and reach to our intellect in this nation. Our intellectual capacity is great. We can't just stop with the ideas. Many of those ideas are being commercialized and deployed into the manufacturing sector in other nations. They're using American patents, they're using American ingenuity, American ideas to make things happen in their nations. We need to invest vigorously in that sort of economy. We can do it by putting together a progressive policy like that of ACES that was voted upon in this House, where we put together the framework, the blueprint--the green print, perhaps--as to how we're going to pursue job creation and responsiveness to our energy needs and a responsible approach to the environmental stewardship that is assigned each and every one of us as American citizens to this globe.

Thank you, Representative Boccieri.

I have heard all of our colleagues talking about leadership, exercising leadership and putting a plan into action. I think what is most regrettable is that we are still having this debate as to whether or not to enter into a new energy economy, to address the climate change issues that are so much an imperative these days.

All of this discussion is coming while other nations are now investing and investing heavily in their country's economy, driven by these new technologies, these emerging technologies, an innovation economy. So our pace here needs to be sped up. But it has also got to be preceded by a sound plan that is put together. So I would implore this House and the Senate to work in a bipartisan, bicameral way with the White House to make certain that that plan is in place in very short order.

Let me just talk about some of the evidence that I have seen in my district, again with advanced battery manufacturing. I am looking at investments from GE that would allow us to address a number of dynamics that are speaking to the empowerment of the energy transformation where the battery is the linchpin.

We are talking about development at GE that will allow for multiple purposes, for heavy vehicles for their fuel needs, for those heavy vehicles to be empowered by this alternative, but a new format of battery, advanced battery manufacturing. We are talking about creating a power supply with this sort of battery.

We are also talking about their battery development, essential to the storage of intermittent renewables, supplies from the sun, from the wind, that may be intermittent in nature. The linchpin here is to develop the battery manufacturing that will transition us. All of this investment needs to be sped up.

We also need to look at what we can do with efficiency within renewables. I have recently passed in this House a wind energy- efficiency bill that allows us to take a closer look at the manufacturing and the assemblage of those

given sorts of power supply. Those renewables can be done in a more efficient way. Citing the materials that are used, we can reach to nanoscience to develop lighter materials or durable materials. How we assemble the gearbox assemblage is an important bit of R&D that needs to get done, how we develop through manufacturing a better tower system for our renewable supply from wind.

All of this needs to be a huge American investment. Again, we have the energy intellect. We can emerge from this race as a winner, but the time is passing us by. And whichever nation emerges the winner in this race will be that go-to nation that will be the exporter of energy intellect, energy ideas, energy innovation for generations to come.

So, we are going to fail the next generation of job holders, we are going to fail this Nation's economy, we are going to fail the environment agenda, we are going to fail the energy transitioning if we don't move forward intelligently, thoughtfully, progressively, in a way that allows us to capture the brain power of this country that has driven invention and innovation in so many measures, in so many dynamics.

We have it within our grasp. We need to go from research that is done at our universities and the private sector and further deploy into the commercialization zone, into the manufacturing efforts, those ideas. We have failed after that research investment. We need to have that ``valley of death,'' as it is termed, where we don't get the seed money that is necessary for a lot of this innovative spark to take its presence in our American economy. We need that sort of commitment and we need that sort of policy development.

We can do it. This House has offered a great bill. We challenge those in this process to work with us to have an outcome that has a bill on the President's desk that can sign us into a new era of energy policy.

Representative Boccieri, I couldn't agree more. And we do embrace, we can embrace that challenge, the challenge that has been put forth by all of these individuals that you named here this evening and quoted.

I heard you express the free market system and what it can do to enable us to have a better energy and environment outcome. I heard Representative Perriello talk about not accepting the status quo. I heard there, Representative, a kind of a pioneer spirit, a challenge to be those pioneers that we have been throughout our history.

You know, gentlemen, I have the great fortune of representing the Erie Canal communities. Where that Hudson and Mohawk River meet gave birth to an industrial revolution. This whole channel of the waterway, which was seen as a folly approach, became the empowerment tool, not only in developing this Nation and prospering in the process, but changing the entire world in terms of their quality of life. For in that Erie Canal channel developed a number of mill towns, a necklace of mill towns, each mill town becoming that epicenter of invention and innovation, and they sparked their genius in a way that really transitioned not only America but the world.

We are at that same juncture. We are now at that opportunity moment that can allow us to seize this moment and make a difference. There are those in our country who are those intellects that are proposing these wonderful product lines, these wonderful inventions, but they need to transition from that hybrid, that prototype, into the commercialization and manufacturing of that idea.

And today, that new birth of an industrial revolution, a new economy, isn't about mass production, where they might have invented some wonderful object, produced a few numbers within their garage and then, as business grew, created a factory and mass produced. That is a different spot today for us. It's about precision. It's about the prototyping. It's about the testing, and it's about the evaluating. And that, my friends, is a very pricey situation.

There are not a lot of the start-ups and emerging technologies that have available cash at hand, and there is a huge risk factor, and there are ways to reduce that risk or work through it to see if it is, in fact, going to endure the process. But there are also opportunities for the government to invest in high-risk, great opportunities, situations that can take us into new opportunities with battery manufacturing, with new product lines, emerging technologies, that will be shelf-ready for energy efficiency, alternative technologies for producing power supplies, American power needs that are addressed by the American workforce. Think of that as a great, novel idea, growing our economy.

People have said time and time again, we hear it in our districts, Why are the jobs leaving this country? We have an opportunity to create jobs in this country that respond to our social and economic needs, that respond to our environmental curiosity and our environmental responsibility, but we need to seize the moment. We need to express, in very bold measure, that we care about the energy transformation, the innovation economy.

Let's be those epicenters of invention and innovation as those mill towns I represent were in the heyday of the industrial revolution. It is within our grasp, it is within our intellect, and it needs to be within our political will. And being here this evening and expressing with you gentlemen where we can go and where we believe we are growing our way toward is an important statement to make here this evening, and it's a pleasure to have joined with you in this special hour.

Madam Speaker, on Tuesday, Speaker Pelosi announced an important new addition to the health insurance reform package. Young adults will be able to remain on their parents' health insurance plans until their 27th birthday.

Young adults make up one-third of the entire uninsured population, numbering 13.7 million. Only 53 percent of young adults are even eligible for employer-based insurance, and 51 percent do not have health coverage through their jobs.

Young adults have the highest rate of injury-related emergency department visits and 15 percent have a chronic health condition. Half are overweight or obese, 9 percent have been diagnosed with depression or a related condition, and the highest prevalence of human papilloma virus, which has been linked to cervical cancer, is among women age 20- 24. Young adults experience six preventable deaths each day due to lack of health insurance.

This is clearly an age group that needs health insurance. But young adults are among those least likely to have access to coverage. Allowing them to remain as a dependent on their parents' health insurance plans will bring quality health insurance within reach for millions of young adults.

Mr. Speaker, this past Sunday, America's Health Insurance Plans, the trade group representing the largest health insurance companies in this country, released a report. The insurance companies contend that health insurance reform will raise premiums on families by as much as $4,000 in the next 10 years.

I am here to tell you this morning, Mr. Speaker, that this is simply not true. Just last week, the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax research group, released a report that said middle-class American families will see a savings of about $1,900 from the House's health reform bill.

Insurance companies are worried that health insurance reform is going to cut into their profits. This report is a last-ditch effort to stop this Congress from providing real relief to the millions of Americans who already are struggling with the high cost of health insurance.

Even the company hired to produce the report has issued a statement saying that they produced a skewed report that analyzes only part of the bill because that is what the insurance industry paid them to do. That company has since distanced itself from this report.

This report completely ignores critical policies that hold down the cost of health insurance, such as the grandfather policy that allows you to keep the plan you have, affordability credits, and the health insurance exchange.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in wholehearted support of this resolution. I thank Representative Lipinski for his outstanding work that he has done to bring this resolution to the floor.

In 1919, the United States established diplomatic relations with the newly formed Polish Republic. After 90 years of diplomatic relations, our relations have never been stronger.

Over the last 90 years, the Polish people have overcome profound challenges, and Poland has emerged as a beacon for democracy and economic revitalization. In the 1980s, Polish workers rose against the Soviet elite, and despite significant oppression, forced democratic elections in 1989 and was a significant factor in the fall of the Iron Curtain. Despite the decades of Soviet control, over the last 20 years, the Polish economy has expanded dramatically and now is one of the economic engines of Europe.

Over the years, Poland has cooperated closely with the United States on issues such as democratization, nuclear proliferation, human rights, regional cooperation in Eastern Europe, and reform of the United Nations.

Today we can recognize these great contributions and reaffirm our commitment to our relationship with this great ally by voting in support of this resolution. I urge my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, to vote in support of House Resolution 266.

Absolutely.

Thank you, Representative Pingree, for leading us in this hour of discussion because there have been many elements of fear that have been introduced into the dialogue, into the discussion--into the debate, if you will--that have been intending to, perhaps, mislead and misinform, and that is not what America needs right now.

America needs a thoughtful, very meaningful discussion on health care--how to provide for certainty for our business community with predictability in their insurance costs--because I do believe most employers want to cover their employees with a sound, basic health care plan. So we also need stability and security.

I think I would share with you the sentiments that we need insurance reform to address the concerns of America--and not just for the uninsured and underinsured. This discussion is as much about those of us who have insurance in hand. The stability and the security of that plan is at risk, so we need to go forward so there is no discrimination for preexisting conditions.

I have heard, and I am certain you have and our colleagues have heard in the freshman class and beyond in the greater audience of this Chamber. We have heard from constituents about the horror stories of premium increases over a short span of 2 years. I'm thinking of a story where there was a 37 percent increase over 2 years, which was the situation for a couple, a married couple, where the wife of that couple had been impacted by a catastrophic illness. They were left then, Representative Pingree, with $18,000 worth of medical bills. It is a growing dynamic of bankruptcy for our American families. Health care costs are driving families to the edge with bankruptcy.

We are also in need of reform that will make certain that there is no dropping your coverage simply because you become ill. That has been a game that has been played on our health care consumers in this country. It needs to stop. Our conference, our House, wants to make certain that those are some of the conditions that are brought about in the insurance reform.

The refusal to renew coverage if you become ill is another obstacle in the way of providing universal health care coverage.

Obviously, a big dynamic is changing jobs, perhaps starting up a small business on one's own. Oftentimes, they are not allowed to happen out there simply because of the concern for the portability of insurance coverage. Many are losing their jobs, and so 14,000 per day, if not more, are losing health care insurance because of the loss of a job. The list goes on and on. Making certain that there are no co-pays for prevention and wellness programs, these are concepts that are sound insurance reforms that can strengthen the system.

Those who want to provide this message of doom and gloom and who want to use fear tactics are only taking us off track of what ought to be a very focused discussion on what needs to happen, because most world- leading nations offer a tremendous health care policy, and this country is in need of that reform. We have been talking about it for decades. Now is the time for action.

Absolutely, there is a confusion that exists out there, even with a lack of standardized forms, which is another tool that's used. So there is this confusion.

There is this, I believe, deliberate attempt to make certain that there is a winner in this equation, and it certainly isn't the health care consumer. So many have been concerned about government standing between the patient and the doctor when, in fact, what we have today is the insurance company standing between patient and doctor, where they are limiting. That's why we're asking for reforms here which do not allow for cost caps on what insurance companies are required to cover. We don't want them to be stingy when it comes to providing the health care, especially in prevention and wellness modes, which are so very absolutely essential.

There are out-of-pocket expenses. You talked, Representative Pingree, about the deductibles that this family in Maine had to absorb. We don't want that unlimited in nature. We want caps on what is required of our families out there--our working families across America--and we certainly want to make certain that the co-pays, especially in catastrophic situations, are capped for individuals and families. This is a great bit of service that we can provide.

These whole trite sayings that we're bringing in a Halloween response and

all of these individual statements that don't really get to the heart of the matter are disheartening. It's discouraging that there isn't that academic exchange here.

Where is the counteroffer in this House? We have had plans out there for months. We've been talking about things, bringing them to hearing, having forums across the country. There is no alternative that's being offered. Maybe we heard things about status quo and leaving it as it is. Well, we even offer a capitalist model. We offer competition in an exchange that's developed in our bill to make certain that there is the hardiness of a robust, competitive model that is, I think, ``all American'' in its keeping.

To dispel some of the myths and to cast aside the misinformation. The American public deserves better than that.

Representative Pingree, I can't help but wonder if that isn't the

most classic and bold example of cherry picking. When I listened to Representative Kagen list that number of conditions, preexisting conditions, it excludes a great part of the populace out there. The time for these games is over.

We talk about so many of the people that might be impacted by these preexisting conditions, from toddlers, over to middle age, and yes, even to our seniors.

When I was in the State assembly in New York State for 25 years, for the longest time I represented the largest per capita senior population of any assembly district of the 150 in New York State, so I would hear routinely from seniors. I hear from those same seniors now in this congressional district, and there is concern. There is concern about where their future is going with health care reform.

Well, let me remind all of our seniors out there, this whole process here in the House is about providing stability to Medicare. That is an audience that is critically valuable to this country, people who worked through their lifetimes and now deserve--I think it is an American right--quality health care.

When people talk about fear tactics, telling people that your Medicare coverage is going to be weakened, let me remind everybody that the cuts in Medicare were up to 21 percent for next year for our medical community. This bill stops that. Our bill, our final package, will stop that sort of cut. Those payments to physicians would have put the doctor-patient relationship at risk. It would have reduced accessibility for our Nation's seniors. We will avoid that cut. We will provide stability by addressing the solvency of the trust fund for Medicare.

We will go forward and close that doughnut hole. No one, these critics about this process, about the proposals that we have put forth to the American public, the critics that are there now, especially in the political arena, where were they when we played games with the pharmaceutical industry and created a doughnut hole where coverage stopped automatically and then resumed later after we have again impacted financially our senior population?

You talk to seniors, many of them naturally are in need of medications, of pharmaceutical requirements. Why we would exhaust them financially for that basic core need of health care is beyond me. No one talked about that pricetag. No one talked about the billions of dollars we were going to cost the public and what we paid to the industries to do that.

So there is a chance here to turn that around and close that doughnut hole. I don't know what we are going to call it. A jelly donut? We fill it with good, you know, so that people can then have the kind of health care and the pharmaceutical needs will be addressed. That is a basic stability enhancement that is provided with this measure.

Avoiding the 21 percent cuts to physicians is an enhancement. Making certain that we provide these new models for efficiency; effective use of dollars; making certain that home models, medical home models, can be utilized, these are good concepts. And we want to go forward with the sounder Medicare situation, especially with the coming of the baby boomer generation. Everyone has talked about that. We need to make that part of our plan. It is part of our plan, where we provide stability and solvency for Medicare.

Representative Pingree, I think that obviously there is a lot of discussion and a lot of focus on the cost. I think across the country, 15 years ago 61 percent of our small businesses provided employer-based health care. That's somewhere below 38 percent now. We hear the average cost of a family plan might be 12,000, 13,000, sometimes rising to 14,000, and people have seen record profits in the industry.

We've seen and heard about the insensitivities here this evening anecdotally from various Members. You know, Representative Dahlkemper, Representative Kilroy, and yourself have all talked about these information tidbits that come our way. But I think what really struck me this weekend was the report that was released by America's health insurance plans, where they actually worked out a study, a report, commissioned a report, and they overstated the impact of the Senate finance bill that was voted upon today to overstate the impact on America's families of that plan. That's one solution that's out there. And I found it interesting that the firm that they hired to do the study actually backed away from the report because they said they fragmented it so. They asked them to do just tidbits, portions of that whole bill and then use that to calculate the impact.

So it shows us, it tells us something that we're on to wringing the cost, the excess cost and the inefficiencies out of the system to the point where it's driving corporate greed to now respond in a way that's manufacturing these price tags that are, again, scare tactics to get us off of just and honest debate. And I think that that needs to be shared with the American public. The tax foundation came out with a plan, a review that said that our health care bill will save families, average working middle class families, $1,900 per year.

Now, when they came up with this other study, when they fragmented it out, they didn't allow for the calculation of savings, corresponding savings

that are part of the overall huge package of reform. And so it was, again, disingenuous. It was unfair to put something like that out there. But it does tell me, in very bold and noble terms, that there's fear out there that finally there may be a balancing of the scales, where the public will get their shot at good health care insurance reform and not at the expense of greed that has been allowed to run rampant, I think, for a long time.

And I think, Representative Pingree, I think when we heard Representative Kagen, Dr. Kagen speaking about a standard, basic package that would be required if you want to participate in the exchange, how about, you know, the medical loss ratio that has dwindled over 15 years from 95 percent return of all premiums collected going back for health care purposes to now something below 85 percent, below 80 percent, perhaps. That is unacceptable.

So the standards that we establish, you know, having this medical loss ratio defined, if you want to participate, basic core package, if you want to participate, hey, this is open to any and all. Government sets up the exchange. It stays out of that. The public option will have to sustain its own entity by its premiums. It will have to maintain a reserve. That is not what I would call unfair competition. They're all going to be operating under the same guidelines. And when we sharpen that pencil by requiring a robust public option, it drives the bottom line benefit for the consumer.

We talk about small business and impacts and the future forecast and projections on insurance, today I think of some 430 billion that is the price tag paid by small business for health care provided by the employer. In 9 short years, absent nothing, that is supposed to go to $880 billion. This is a train wreck waiting to happen. And when you hear the options, when you hear status quo is the option that we should exercise, when you hear let's keep the system but provide more tax benefits so that employers can afford this, how much more is government going to write in terms of checks to keep this system going that is sweeping upward in a curve? We're not containing the costs at all.

So this measure, to Representative Kilroy's comment, is an important way to contain costs, to Representative Dahlkemper's statement of wellness and prevention, by not allowing for copayments on those elements of the plan, that's an important bit of progress. And so I challenge anyone, come in here, talk facts not fiction. Come in here with sensitivity, not insensitivity, and let's really put this package together. It's a work in progress. It's been tremendous.

I'm seeing the benefits that the freshmen class has brought to this discussion. I think it's uncluttered thinking. We've brought the debate into, I think, a really good setting so that we can move forward by adding our voices to this effort, and it's really a pleasure to work with my freshmen class.

Just a quick statement. I know we're running to the end of our hour.

Representative Dahlkemper talked about the concern at her local hospital. Across the board, hospitals are concerned, and uncompensated care is at somewhere between $57 and $58 billion a year. There's a savings immediately when we put together quality health care programs that are affordable, accessible, where we're providing universal health care. It's just a reasonable thing to do, and most importantly, it's the compassionate thing to do. Sometimes that gets lost in the discussion.

There's this moral compass for America that we need to engage and we obviously are very proud to support what is the correct thing to do, and we have that responsibility here to enable all families in this country to have access and to be able to afford quality health care.

Thank you so much for bringing us together, Representative Pingree.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to talk about how the health insurance reform will help our Nation's seniors.

We have all heard about the dreaded Medicare part D doughnut hole-- the gap in prescription drug coverage that 7,300 seniors a year in my congressional district alone face. Seniors who fall in the doughnut hole must cover the full cost of their prescription drugs, forcing many to cut back on their prescription use.

H.R. 3200 fills in the doughnut hole, shrinking it over several years until there is no interruption in prescription drug coverage for our seniors. Until the doughnut whole is completely filled, H.R. 3200 also offers discounts on brand-name prescription drugs to seniors who fall into that doughnut hole.

H.R. 3200 also makes great strides in improving the care Medicare patients receive. It includes provisions that encourage doctors to spend more time with their patients and to check up with them more frequently. Accountable care organizations and medical homes in the bill will promote coordination of care amongst the different health care professionals and result in better health care outcomes for Medicare patients.

I am proud to support this bill and encourage my colleagues to do the same

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding me this time.

I rise in support of this resolution. I thank Member Kucinich for the outstanding work that he has done on this resolution.

General Casimir Pulaski being designated as an honorary citizen of our country is a very valid and important resolution. This son of liberty, this patriot, lent his military expertise to more than just his motherland. It is obvious throughout this world he was concerned about promoting fairness and liberty, and he helped write in very sound terms American history. He helped make this country the great one that she is.

Throughout my congressional district, throughout the State of New York, and indeed throughout our country, there are semblances of recognition of this great general. Streets, roads, bridges and, indeed, monuments bear his name that reflect the greatness of the individual.

Polish Americans of this land throughout its history have made immense contributions, very valuable contributions to the betterment of America. Prime amongst them is this great general, one who helped write this history with his military expertise. Polish Americans have reached across many dynamics to make a sound difference in our great country.

I rise in support of this outstanding resolution, commend the sponsor, and encourage my colleagues to do likewise.

Mr. Speaker, on Monday I had the distinguished honor of hosting President Barack Obama to New York's 21st Congressional District that I represent when he paid a visit to Hudson Valley Community College in the city of Troy.

I want to extend my sincerest thanks to the President for recognizing that New York's Capital Region has become a leader in advanced technologies, has the ingredients to lead in the clean energy sector, and, most of all, for delivering a message that was full of inspiration and full of hope for a better future.

Why did the President come to New York's Capital Region to deliver an address on developing an innovation economy? Because we are transforming a rusty manufacturing center that had fallen on hard times into a center for advanced technologies that will soon rival the Silicon Valley and Boston. That is being done with a combination of public and private investment in close partnership with many universities and community colleges throughout the area.

The President touched on a few points that I have been talking about for years: an innovation economy built around three dynamics: upgraded human capital, infrastructure investments, and financial tools. We must retrain our workers to develop the energy and innovation economy of the future and leverage public funds with private investments to do so. If we are successful, this will lead to jobs such as wind engineers, advanced photovoltaic mechanics, fuel cell electricians, geothermal plumbers, technically trained teachers, clean room technicians, and many more.

In Albany we have built a nanotechnology research center and college that have earned a worldwide reputation, which is already a precursor to products in a wide range of economic sectors, from health care to low-emission engines. In Schenectady, General Electric Global Research Center and Wind Energy Institute are leading an army of smaller companies and entrepreneurs in alternative energy development. GE also just committed to building an advanced battery plant in Schenectady that will add 350 jobs and create a new energy storage system for locomotives that will save millions of dollars on fuel and dramatically reduce air pollution. And just to the north of my district, in my colleague Congressman Scott Murphy's district, Global Foundries is constructing the most advanced chip fabrication plant in the world.

Smart investments in research and development are leading to innovations that are creating new jobs that will lead to future growth, and that's a vision I share with President Obama for our entire Nation. We are engaged in a clean energy race, much like the space race of the 1960s. The nation that wins that race to develop clean, affordable, renewable energy and emerging technologies will achieve economic security and a broad base of jobs for generations to come that are higher-salaried jobs.

And that brings us to Hudson Valley Community College, where programs have been created to train the area's workforce in semiconductor manufacturing, photovoltaic, geothermal, and wind energy. Community colleges like Hudson Valley Community College and the others in my district, Fulton-Montgomery Community College and Schenectady Community College, that will become the vital link between the innovations that will drive our new economy and the great-paying jobs that will lead to economic security for workers now and into the future. Community colleges will be where we train and retrain workers for the jobs of the future. The White House Council of Economic Advisers said in a recent report that in the near future, a degree from a community college will be in higher demand than 4-year degrees.

But this effort doesn't start with college. We need to educate today's children for the jobs that will be there when they become adults. The Capital Region is ripe to offer a regional approach to technological training, starting from grade school all the way up. In fact, in the Capital Region of New York State, we have established a Tech Valley High School; and Hudson Valley Community College, working with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, is building a resource for training and educating the future semiconductor manufacturing workforce. We must use the tools at our disposal in our region to instill a sense of excitement and passion toward learning, especially in the disciplines of science, of technology, of engineering, and, yes, of mathematics.

In Congress we are already laying the groundwork for our innovation economy, first through the Recovery Act, then through legislation such as the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Just last week we passed in this House the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which will make college affordable for millions more Americans and help build a world-class community college system.

Our future economy depends on our ability to educate and innovate. The challenges to lessen our dependence on foreign fossil fuels is an opportunity to create new industries, new jobs, and new economic security for all Americans, a vision that I share with our President and many of my colleagues.

Our President's vision of an innovation economy is ripe in the 21st Congressional District.

Madam Speaker, as you know, we have a very talented freshman class in the House of Representatives. And for the next hour, Members of the freshman class will be discussing health care. We would like to thank the Democratic leadership for giving us time to discuss this very important issue. Within the freshman class I believe is a diversity of work experience and work expertise, skill sets that have been brought to this Chamber to discuss various policies.

Well, nothing could be more pressing, Madam Speaker, than the need for health care reform. Just yesterday I was pleased to welcome President Obama to the 21st Congressional District of New York, which I represent, specifically to the city of Troy, New York. He had spoken about the innovation economy. He had spoken about the recovery from this recession, which has been deep and long. He made mention that there is no recovery without addressing health care costs for our businesses, to be able to go forward with a meaningful plan that will allow for employer-based coverage at an affordable price.

So this evening as we speak about health care reform, it is significant to our business community, it is significant to our families, the working families across America, and it is significant to government, as health care costs for government-provided health care in our local municipalities, in our school systems, is rising well beyond inflation.

In fact, just today a report was issued by the Office of the Vice President that spoke to, on average, 5.5 percent increases on family plans across America. That average of 5.5 percent came during this recession period that actually saw inflation dropping by 0.7 percent. So this is a remarkable statistic that we're seeing this growth continuing.

We have been joined, and we are joined by two of our colleagues right now. We have Representative Gerry Connolly from Virginia's 11th District and Representative Chellie Pingree from Maine's 1st Congressional District. Representative Connolly, if you please.

Absolutely. And I think that the statistics speak for themselves. Representative Pingree, you have long been a champion in your State for health care reform. Statistics in the Northeast and certainly in New England are what they are across America, where we see out-of-control costs and reduced opportunities for those who are holding an insurance policy in hand.

Well, it's interesting because I'm sure we hear it all the time. We recommend to high school students that probably their work stops throughout their careers will be four, five in number. It will not be that sustained one bit of loyalty to the employer and reverse to the employee that goes through an individual's work life career. And that is an important thing. If we profess that to be true, and we share that with these young minds, where we see that happening today in today's society where there are more and more shifts in careers, where there are golden opportunities to enter into another work opportunity, or where people are displaced, tossed to the streets, if you will, and lose their jobs, there should be that stability.

While the discussion by some has been framed an issue for the uninsured or underinsured, it's equally about those of us who are insured with the policy in hand. And what is really driving the issue here for many is catastrophic illness, where there is perhaps a huge demand on a family for medical expenses, and we are seeing more and more bankruptcies due to medical expenses as part of an American outcome, unacceptable outcomes in a land of abundance, as is the case in America.

So reform here is what we need. Status quo is unsustainable, absolutely unsustainable, and we need to go forward with a progressive sort of policy reform that will enable us to prosper as a society, via business, via families, via individuals, via our local governments and school systems.

Absolutely not.

As I mentioned, the President came to my district just yesterday and talked about the innovation economy and the emergence of innovation that is expressed through keen intellect out there, whiz kid ideas, if you will, that are fostered by these very sharp individuals who know with precision how we can enter into a high-tech sweepstakes and win that global race. Well, we can't saddle these people with the costs of health care that is unaffordable or deny their entry into the job creations that they want to provide by finding that the premium is going to be some $13,375, as the Vice President's released study indicates. That is unacceptable.

Status quo also means that insurance companies will be calling the shots, that they will control your destiny. They will step between you and the medical community. They will continue to reap great profits that go toward marketing and executive bonuses and various other items. The first 26 cents now on the dollar are assumed to go for something other than health care. So status quo is not sustainable.

I know, Representative Pingree, that you have been impacted by these issues within your district and have created a very strong voice for health care reform.

Absolutely.

Representative Connolly, you talk about some of the hardship that befalls people because of these decisions by bureaucrats in the industry. Well, there are also those situations where they drop coverage because of illness, which is a dreadful outcome. And I think that the insurance reforms, the health care insurance reforms that are required in this package would address situations like catastrophic illness, requiring that there be no prejudice shown against those suffering with catastrophic illness; that there be this portability that if you change jobs, lose a job, you continue to maintain health care coverage; that there be caps on certain situations where you're not draining--for the bankruptcy purposes we cited here or just the economic hardships that befall families, you're not draining them of resources unnecessarily, and putting a cap of perhaps $5,000 on an individual, $10,000 on a family, allowing for that cap to be placed so there is that benefit that comes the way of our American families.

Putting no copayment onto wellness programs and prevention programs, that's a smart thing for us to do. We know that when we bring people into the network and emphasize and underscore the value of prevention, they will be all the better for it.

So there are all these dynamics that should be responded to by the legislation that we do here, by the policy we develop.

Representatives talk about anecdotes that are shared within their districts to them either through house calls, which I think are unique, and just in group meetings that are had. I can tell you recently someone told me of their premium going up 37 percent in a matter of 2 years and that now, because of catastrophic illness, the wife of this married couple whom I reference here is unemployable at the age of 60. Her husband is now the single wage earner, trying to cover $18,000 worth of medical expenses.

Now, is that the kind of outcome that we want to protect? Is that the status quo that we're supposed to fight for? Or do we go forward and champion causes that will remove this sort of situation from the lives of the American families that we have the fortune to represent?

I think that there is a better way, and this health care focus in this House has been strong about wringing excess costs and inefficiencies out of the equation and putting in those measures that control overimpacting our American families in cases of catastrophic illness and advancing the cause of wellness. That's what we can achieve here and not be ruled by myth or fear tactics but by facts and information that is fed us that is responsible development of public policy, I believe.

And we have heard real-life stories that should affect all of us in our process here in the House. Both of you are strong voices for intelligent reform; and Representative Pingree, I know you have a lot to add.

It expresses the character of our society and of our Nation. Obviously, there are determined individuals who understand and acknowledge that we can't fix this system with slogans or sound bites or banners that are flown at various events. It needs to get into the weeds of detail and make certain that people are protected.

Ms. Pingree, you make reference to small business, some 13 million people, nearly one-third of America's uninsured, are employed by small and medium-size businesses, fewer than 100 employees. That is a huge number. People say to me, if we do this insurance benefit, shouldn't people be working? I say they are working; they are not getting insurance coverage.

About 15 years ago, 61 percent of our small businesses and medium- sized businesses offered employer-based health care coverage. Today that number has dropped to some 38 percent.

So the signs are there. The patterns are being developed. We cannot continue with the status quo. It is unaffordable and not sustainable.

Mr. Connolly.

And I am reminded with that statistic that the $13,385 on average for a policy will grow to something greater than $29,000. Unacceptable outcomes, and it will drive business into unprofitable situations. And it will wreak damage and pain and suffering onto our Nation and onto its families. So there has to be reform here. Absolutely there has to be reform.

When you look at it from our senior citizens' perspective, knowing there have been injustices allowed, the creation of a doughnut hole where constantly, we have talked about this, you hear from your senior citizens as constituents, where they reach in a few months the threshold where they are in that doughnut hole and they are paying out of pocket for necessary pharmaceuticals, it is unacceptable.

Wouldn't you have expected the voice of advocacy out in the streets to scream and yell about that outcome when it happened just 5 or 6 years ago? But no one brought to the attention or carried any anger and expressed concern to the level that you hear today. And here is the situation we are attempting to correct, a wrong that was allowed to occur, and to close that doughnut hole to allow for more freedom and to have a sensible outcome.

At one of my health care forums in my district during this August recess, I heard from people who were not taking medications simply because of that doughnut hole. I heard from a couple again who testified at one of our forums that indicated for cardiopulmonary purposes the husband needed to take medication. It was a preexisting condition so it denied them insurance coverage, and they couldn't afford out of pocket to pay for the medications. So she cheerfully shared with us that he simply doesn't take it. It has put undue stress onto the family. It has caused economic hardship, and they are without insurance.

For those who would argue that that system should be maintained, I have

my insurance, you go find yours, we are all paying. As Representative Pingree indicated, we are paying for that uncompensated care, and I believe that is to the tune of some $56 billion or $57 billion in this country. That is a huge savings that automatically flips over to a benefit if we do wise health care policy reform.

Right. And I think the sensitivities that we need to show to these various audiences are hampered when people are including in the discussion items that are simply not in the bill, or fabricating them in a way where they suggest that there are outcomes that would be very destructive.

So this has been a very unique effort because you are trying to share information with your constituents, which I think is valuable. They can constructively build this package with us. And at the same time, you have to dispel the myths and rumors and the misinformation so we can stay on that page of fact not fiction and do what is best for Americans, for all ratepayers and for all sectors of our economy.

We earlier talked about small businesses. When you think of the benefits that come if they can have better bargaining leverage as small businesses, there is a benefit there. Our larger companies and industries haven't seen the growth in premiums that our small businesses have. They are some 18 percent greater than the larger business community.

So what we need to do here is provide that benefit by pooling these resources, allowing for better leverage in bargaining for health care premiums to stay lower. Just with the report today that was issued, we had a growth in the last 10 years, New York State alone, they did a State by State measure, and 105 percent growth in premiums and a 44 percent growth in wages over a 10-year span.

Now, Representative Connolly, I think we can all agree that is not a pattern that we can allow to continue because eventually the well runs dry, people become sicker, and the profit column is swelling for an industry that is standing between choices that should be made between a doctor and a patient.

Thank you, Representative Connolly, for being a strong voice in this Chamber so as to move us all along that path of progressive reform, for an industry that is representative of every one of $6 in the American economy. If it goes unchecked, in the short span of 30 years, it will be one in $3. That does not make strong sense. It is a situation that will be a train wreck just waiting to happen.

We thank you for joining us this evening.

As we look at the progress that we can make here, it is important for us to move forward with fact not fiction, for us to instill reforms in the insurance area that allows for catastrophic illness to be addressed so that it does not prejudice against American families that require health care insurance.

We need to move forward so as to provide portability for our American families, especially at a time when we profess that there will be career changes, job changes many times over in the work lifetime of countless individuals in this country, where if you lose a job, you shouldn't be denied your health care. Some 14,000 Americans per day are losing their health care. That is unacceptable in this Nation of plenty.

We can have a better plan. We need to make certain that wellness and prevention are underscored as very valuable, important tools in the kit that speak to the soundness of holding down costs. We do that by not allowing for copayments in that regard. We need to cap those situations that could be catastrophic by making certain that no more than $5,000 or $10,000 per family, some reasonable measure be there, to restrict the payments that are demanded because so many families face bankruptcy.

I know that if our health care measure were approved as represented before the House here, some 1,200 families in my congressional district alone would escape the woes of bankruptcy because of medical expenses.

These are issues that face America each and every day. The business community has been paying stiffly for this sort of lack of reform. Some 40 percent of our business community is reported spending more than 10 percent of their payroll on health care costs. That is a pattern that is only growing worse with time.

And our seniors have been treated unfairly, with concepts like a Medicare part D doughnut hole, situations that find them in a very few weeks into any calendar year paying dearly for pharmaceutical needs that are a life-and-death choice for them. They shouldn't limit or fractionalize what they're taking. They shouldn't avoid the pharmaceutical needs that have been required of them by the medical community.

Those are situations that need to be responded through in this debate that hopefully will be factual, that will be fair, that will be based on soundness rather than fear tactics; those that might divide this Nation unnecessarily, that may impact the chance to really reform a situation that for decades has been talked about.

I applaud the President when he said he wants to be the last President to attempt this effort and fail. He wants to achieve success for the Nation. For decades we have had many an administration push for reform but it has failed because I think there are those who resist change simply to resist it rather than open up to the discussion and the dialogue and the debate in honest measure that needs to be had so as to move forward in progressive format.

Madam Speaker, we of the freshman class thank you this evening for the time allotted. I now yield back the remainder of my time and appreciate the opportunity to discuss what I believe is a critically important issue, that of health care and insurance reform here in America.

I rise today in support of H.R. 3246, the Advanced Vehicle Technology Act. H.R. 3246 supports the key public policy goals of improving our Nation's energy security and our environment. Specifically, this legislation encourages research and development for a diverse range of near-term and long-term vehicle electrification technologies that will improve vehicle fuel efficiency, reduce emissions, and support the United States manufacturing and American workers.

We must address our energy problems as we continue to address our economic problems. By doing so, I believe we can ensure that while our economy recovers, we will be competitive and secure in the energy sector as well. The passage of H.R. 3246 is indeed vital to addressing both of these concerns.

As Congress moves through this session, we must continue to pass policies that will promote energy efficiency--policies which drill and mine efficiencies as we previously drilled for oil and mined for coal.

Finally, we must continue to invest in research and development to ensure that our United States are at the forefront of the energy revolution: Creating jobs, embracing intellectual capacity, and promoting clean domestic energy.

I urge my colleagues to join me today and vote in favor of H.R. 3246. I commend the sponsor for his vision.