Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a distinguished public servant from the 6th District of Illinois. Nanci Vanderweel has dedicated her life to her community and has worked tirelessly to help the less fortunate. She serves as a role model for us all and as proof that one dedicated person can change the lives of many.

In 1971 Nanci was elected as the first female Trustee for Elk Grove Village. A position that many would view as an impressive career finale, Nanci saw as a good starting point. She went on to become a Trustee for the Elk Grove Township where she currently serves as the Supervisor, after again becoming the first woman selected for the position. In addition she serves as the President of the Supervisor's Division of the Township Officials of Cook County.

While working full time for her community, Nanci found the time to be the Chairman of the Cook County Public Aid Committee; Chairman of the Judiciary, Planning and Zoning Committee for Elk Grove Village; she started the Elk Grove Village Community Blood Drive Program; is a Charter Member of the Friends of Harper College; served as the President of the Board of Directors for the Northwest Community Services; became a member of the United Way Needs Assessment Committee; a Unit Chair for the Salvation Army; and she chaired the referendum to assist ambulance accessibility on the I-290 interchange at Biesterfield Road.

As if that was not enough, Nanci published a book on the History of Elk Grove Township and even started the first free library in the township, for which she received the Governor's Hometown Award. Through hard work and no small amount of perseverance, Nanci Vanderweel has helped countless people and tremendously improved her community. Distinguished Members, please join me in congratulating Nanci Vanderweel on an accomplished life, and wishing her happiness and peace in her well-earned retirement.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise for National Teacher Appreciation Day. I would like to thank Ms. Lillian Anderson who gave me my first exposure to government with a 4th grade class history project on the State of Illinois at Ben Franklin School in Glen Ellyn. I still have the folder with the assignment featured in my district office to remind me of why I entered public service. Unfortunately, Ms. Anderson passed away a few years ago but I am reminded of her invaluable contributions to the community every time I am back home.

We often take our teachers for granted. We drop our children off at school or send them to the bus stop and pick them up at the end of the day, but the job of our nation's teachers is hardly 9-5. It starts well before the children arrive and continues long after they leave.

We forget that the job involves countless hours of preparation; weekends spent shopping for supplies, and most importantly working with our students to help them become the next generation of authors, doctors, young professionals, and yes, even teachers.

I encourage everyone to take time at their next parent teacher conference or other interaction with you children's teacher to take a moment and thank them for all the hard work they are doing to prepare the next generation.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to highlight the crucial work of nurses in America.

Few individuals touch the lives of others in the manner in which nurses commit to aiding

their patients. This is one of the many reasons that we honor and celebrate our nation's nurses during this week of National Nurses Week

Unique from almost any other profession, nurses join us in some of life's most exciting milestones as well as some of its most challenging seasons. Nurses share in the joyous moment of a newborn's cries to assisting our grandparents as they transition into their golden years. Nurses help clean up our children's first schoolyard scrapes and tumbles just as they help our Nation's homeless when they fall off their feet.

This commitment to patient care dates back to Florence Nightingale. The archetype of modern nursing, Nightingale demonstrated both commitment and compassion to the fallen soldiers of the British Crimean War. It was this paradigm that helped reduce the death rate of the Crimean War by two-thirds.

As a result of this patient-centric model of aid, patient advocacy and hospital administration have both adapted into what we are familiar with and thankful for today. That is why Nursing Appreciation Week is celebrated during the week of May 12, Nightingale's birthday.

There are more nurses than any other workers in the health profession. However, when nursing staffs decrease, individual patient attention decreases as well. This can lead to medical complications and increased hospital stay increase. It is not only a single nurse that encourages patient recovery; it is a team of nurses that play a pivotal role in patient wellness.

In the upcoming years while the American healthcare system undergoes substantial changes, we will depend on nurses more than ever when seeking healthcare. Nurses will serve alongside their colleagues in discovering the next steps in innovative care models as we transition to the next chapter in patient care.

I would encourage all of my fellow members to remember this week next time they visit a hospital or take their child to the doctor; remember to thank your nurse as well.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a dedicated public servant from the Sixth Congressional District of Illinois, Mayor Larry Hartwig of Addison. In May, he will conclude his loyal service as Mayor after four terms.

As a resident of the Village of Addison for over 40 years, Mr. Hartwig has served as a model citizen. He first entered public office in 1987 as Village Trustee, and in 1995, he was appointed Interim Mayor of Addison where he was elected thereafter.

During his tenure as Mayor, Mr. Hartwig has been an exemplary leader and public servant. After retiring as Principal of Wood Dale Junior High School, he devoted more time to other areas of service, including the DuPage Water Commission and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus. His noble leadership led him to serve as President of the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference and as Chairman of the Conference's Legislative Committee.

Mayor Hartwig has represented his community well and has been a strong voice for the Village of Addison throughout his time in office. His long service to the people of Addison and to DuPage County is truly commendable. Although retiring as Mayor, Addison will continue to benefit from his involvement as a member of the community.

Mr. Speaker and Distinguished Colleagues, please join me in congratulating Mayor Hartwig on 26 years of public service and in wishing him all the best for the days ahead.

Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to announce that over 100 colleagues have joined together on both sides of the aisle to send a letter to President Obama commending his trip to Israel and also asking him to use it as an opportunity to continue to put the imprimatur of the administration on a strong U.S.-Israeli relationship. We also urge the President to continue to make sure that all options are on the table as it relates to Iran and their nuclear ambitions and that we should continue to adopt a policy of prevention and not containment.

Similarly, we said that we need to protect Israel's Qualitative Military Edge and Israel's inherent right to defend itself, and also recognize that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process can

only be achieved and advanced through direct negotiations without preconditions.

Finally, we said that the President must maintain foreign aid to Israel, as well as funding for Iron Dome and other Israeli-made antimissile defense systems.

In a nutshell, we've urged the President to use this as a time to highlight our relationship with the Nation of Israel because it makes all the sense in the world, and it's a foundation upon which prosperity can happen.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Look, we were admonished a minute ago in the well of the House about the shame of things, and I think we can all accept admonition that we, as a Congress, need to do better. But part of doing better, part of creating a bipartisan bill, is showing up to do the work. So when the minority chooses to walk out of a proceeding, while that's their prerogative, it doesn't create the environment for bipartisanship. Enough said.

We're also told that there's shame and disappointment in not working, and I would assume that that shame and disappointment goes back to the previous majority, Mr. Chairman, who failed to do this work. Now, that's living in the rearview mirror, and enough of that.

So the question is: How do we move forward? How do we take bipartisan or, actually, more importantly, nonpartisan advice from the Government Accounting Office which has looked at the status quo and made a couple of points? They've said the status quo is a failure. The status quo isn't syncing up job creation opportunities, that is, job training, with where the actual jobs are. Or said another way, we've got a status quo that's good for job trainers,

but it's not good for the people that we all claim to speak for, that is, those who are unemployed and need a skill.

So we were also told a minute ago that, and I think the word was, a majority of those who were involved somehow are opposed to the GOP plan. I'm getting data that shows that there's dozens of groups--and I'm sure it's on the Ed and Workforce Web site--that are supporting this.

So here's the question: Do we listen to the GAO? Do we say we're not going to defend the status quo, we're not going to bulk up with more bureaucracy, but, instead, at a time when everybody recognized that resources are limited, we're going to consolidate, be smart, be clever about how we're doing things in order to get this done?

And I think the failure, with all due respect, of the Democratic substitute is that it creates six new programs as opposed to consolidating and putting all of these savings, I might add, back into the very job training program that we're all trying to defend.

So I accept admonition where admonition is due, but I think we're a little bit reluctant to say there's not a bipartisan opportunity when part of being bipartisan is making sure that we show up for that opportunity.

With that, I urge a ``no'' vote on the substitute and a ``yes'' vote on the underlying bill.

Mr. Speaker, as the Representative of the Sixth District of Illinois and the son of a Korean war veteran, I'm honored to serve over 34,000 veterans. We have a deep commitment, as we know, to support those who've risked their lives to defend our freedom and help them in their transition back to civilian life. I've been active in a program called Helmets to Hard Hats, and there's a jarring unemployment figure for veterans that we are all sobered by. More than 844,000 veterans currently face unemployment, and veterans aged 18 to 24 face a staggering 31 percent unemployment rate.

There's an opportunity for us to work together, and I'm pleased to have recently joined the Congressional Veterans Jobs Caucus in an effort to bring Republicans and Democrats together to be like-minded as we seek to serve those who have served us so well. There's a myriad of obstacles that are in place that need to be remedied, and together we can join with the Disabled American Veterans organization, which is here in Washington, D.C. this week to celebrate their success and our obligation to them.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Look, here is an opportunity. There is an opportunity to find common ground. There is an opportunity to do something that makes common sense, that is not just common ground. It is common sense to require people, if they're getting compensation, to do their jobs. It has been 4 years. Ironically, it has been since the day Rod Blagojevich, the Governor of Illinois, was indicted that the United States Senate has passed a budget, and now we have an opportunity to put pressure on the other body, which is for them to do their work.

We don't do ourselves, we don't do our children, we don't do the taxpayers any favors by creating a climate that says ``folks don't have to do their work.'' We don't get to a solution or a remedy unless we pass budgets. This is an opportunity to get on record and put the other body out into the open field so we can have a discussion and move this country on a pathway that makes sense. We ought to pass this and pass it quickly.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 60th anniversary of the Illinois Poison Center (IPC), the oldest poison center in the United States. Their services in poison treatment and prevention have made the Illinois Poison Center a great contributor to the Illinois emergency medical community.

Increased awareness of the potential dangers of over the counter and prescription medications as well as common household products is a crucial step toward better poison safety and prevention, especially for children. Nearly half of the 77,000 poisonings reported to the Illinois Poison Center last year involved children under the age of five. Most of these cases could be prevented by greater awareness of potential risks posed by household substances. The Illinois Poison Center has proven its dedication to educating the citizens of Illinois in better poison prevention.

Thanks to its trained medical staff, the Illinois Poison Center treats over 90 percent of calls reporting poisoning over the phone, reducing the need for doctor's visits and emergency room care.

Mr. Speaker and Distinguished Colleagues, please join me in recognizing March 2013 as Poison Prevention Month in Illinois, and in commending the Illinois Poison Center on 6 decades of excellence in poison education and treatment to the State of Illinois.

I thank the chairman.

Madam Speaker, a couple months ago I pick up the phone and I'm talking to one of your constituent companies in Naperville, Illinois. It's a company that you've represented well for the past 14 years. I was talking to the manufacturer, talking about Russian PNTR, and I posed a simple question: How much business are you doing now, and what kind of business would you be able to do in Russia if we normalize the trade relationships? Without batting an eye he said, currently, Congressman, we do $15 million worth of exports into Russia. If Congress changes this and we regularize this status, that number overnight would jump to $30 million.

Now, the State of Illinois currently is one of the largest States as it relates to exports to Russia--$70 million worth of business, Madam Speaker, coming out of our home State. So we've got a chance today to do something great, and to do something great is to allow worldwide American companies to get a sure footing in a growing marketplace that's only going to get bigger, and to do it in a thoughtful way.

This helps to meet President Obama's goal of doubling exports in 5 years--this is inextricably linked to that goal--and this is an opportunity for us to create jobs where we want to create them, that is, here at home, exporting into markets abroad.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my support for the ongoing efforts of this body and the American people to conquer the devastating disease of Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's is one of the top 10 causes of death in America, and the only one without a way to prevent, cure, or even slow its progression. While death rates from diseases such as stroke, heart disease, and breast cancer have fallen since the year 2000, deaths from Alzheimer's have increased by 66 percent.

Alzheimer's disease affects over 5 million Americans who are cared for by more than 15 million caregivers. These caregivers shoulder the heavy burden of caring for their loved ones and forgoing paid positions while watching the disease progress without the possibility of a cure.

I have several constituents who have been impacted by this disease but two stand out for me personally. Cathy and her daughter Grace have been tireless advocates for their cause. Cathy's husband was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's and she has seen the effects up close. Each year they have taken time out of their schedules to travel to DC and as well as my district office to update me on her husband's condition and express their hopes that we can get closer to curing this awful disease. Grace has even taken her advocacy to the Roll Call Forum to speak on her mother and father's behalf. This is why I support the National Alzheimer's Plan.

I thank the chairman.

I for the life of me don't understand why our friends on the other side of the aisle are defensive about this. This is nothing to defend. This is to say the White House made an error in engaging substantively in downgrading work requirements for welfare. And rather than being defensive about it, say, look, they messed up. Let's not defend them; let's make sure that they don't color outside the lines.

This is not some abstract thing, Mr. Speaker. There are very serious voices that have come out, and they've made this argument that the following things are work and should be included, Mr. Speaker, under the work definitions for welfare, things like: bed rest, personal care activities, massage, exercise, journaling, motivational reading, smoking cessation, weight-loss promotion, participation in parent/ teacher meetings, and helping a friend or relative with household tasks or errands.

So there are some folks that are making the argument that if you go help your neighbor rake the lawn, then somehow that's work under the welfare-to-work requirement. This is not some abstract thing. This is not something that the GOP is looking for. This is a sense of clarity that most Americans said, look, we recognize that if people need help, they should get help, but not to be manipulated through absurd definitions that are coming from who knows where--some States with a straight face that actually want to manipulate this to their benefit.

This is an area where everybody should come together. This should pass with a voice vote. This is an admonition to the White House to say: don't do this; do not weaken these work requirements. Instead, make sure that they're fast and solid and that they move people to work. But don't subsidize massage therapy and pump a lot of sunshine and tell hardworking Americans that that's work because it's not.

Let's do the right thing. Let's pass this quickly.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support for H.R. 6118, the ``Taking Essential Steps for Testing Act of 2012'' or TEST Act. This legislation will give the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) greater leeway when dealing with hospitals and laboratories across the nation.

Last year I was contacted by a hospital in my Congressional District who informed me that they had unintentionally referred a proficiency test to an outside lab because the lab technician was following patient procedure. They informed me that because of this error they would be forced to potentially close the lab and essentially fire the lab director. Upon further investigation, I was troubled to learn that the same problem was occurring across the country because CMS lacked the authority to handle these cases in any other fashion.

This is why I was happy to work with my good friend from New York, Mr. Grimm, and Mr. Ross from Arkansas, as well as Senators Boozman, Klobuchar, and Shaheen, to come up with a simple, commonsense solution to the problem. While working with CMS and our friends across the aisle, we were able to demonstrate that this institution is still capable of recognizing problems and pursuing solutions for the people we represent back home.

It is my hope that the Senate will quickly take up this legislation and send it to the President for signature so we can help provide regulatory relief to our nation's hospitals and labs.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to congratulate Zion Lutheran Church on its 175th Anniversary. On September 30th, Zion Lutheran Church will celebrate its legacy of faith and service.

Founded in 1837, Zion Lutheran Church is the second oldest established church in the State of Illinois. Spanning three different centuries, Zion Lutheran Church has helped make Bensenville a better place to live, learn, and worship. Members of the Zion Lutheran Church community have helped share the grace of God with others by helping establish 11 additional Lutheran churches in DuPage County. Over the years, Zion Lutheran Church has brought hope and fellowship to countless individuals and families.

Zion-Concord Lutheran School is also commemorating its 156th Anniversary this year. Since its inception, Zion-Concord Lutheran School has succeeded in its mission to provide families with a high quality Christian education and to nurture and enrich its students through the teaching of Holy Scripture.

Mr. Speaker and Distinguished Colleagues, please join me in recognizing these significant milestones for the Zion Lutheran Church and Zion-Concord Lutheran School, and in wishing them many more years of achievement and faithful service. May God bless the congregation on this special occasion.

Mr. Speaker, today, we take time to honor our friend and colleague Congressman Jerry Costello, who retires this year after 24 proud years representing the 12th District of Illinois.

Throughout his career, Jerry earned the respect of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and is known as a man dedicated to his family, his community, and public service.

Born and raised in East Saint Louis, Jerry spent his career representing his friends and neighbors first as the Chairman of the St. Clair County Board, and then as a Member of Congress.

Since coming to Washington, Jerry has worked tirelessly on behalf of his constituents, Illinois farmers, the transportation community and Scott Air Force Base. The State of Illinois will certainly miss having such a senior legislator and consummate professional in Congress.

But this body's loss is the gain of the entire Costello family, especially his wife Georgia, their three children and eight grandchildren. I wish them all the best as they embark on this new chapter of their lives, and congratulate Congressman Jerry Costello on a career of service to Southwestern Illinois.