Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the long and distinguished career of my friend, Mr. William ``Spike'' O'Dell, radio host of the morning show ``Spike Radio.'' After over 20 years at WGN-AM Radio, Mr. O'Dell will retire in December 2008, and you can count me as one of the listeners from all over Chicagoland who will miss hearing him on WGN.

Over the years, Spike O'Dell has interviewed U.S. Congressmen and Senators, reporters stationed in war-zones, comedians, and Olympic athletes. His favorite sayings of ``Nothing is worth your health or happiness'' and ``Life is too serious to take things too seriously'' influenced the acerbic but entertaining atmosphere in which he took calls from his listeners.

Spike's listeners have come to rely on his thoughtful and extensive coverage of current U.S. and world news, traffic, and weather. Appropriately, Spike O'Dell's hard work and insightful reporting over the years have been recognized with the honor of an Achievement in Radio, AIR, Award in 1999 from the Chicagoland AIR Awards Board of Governors.

While I am sure Spike's family will be glad to enjoy more time with him, the rest of us will miss his hard-hitting news reporting, weekly current events quizzes, and engaging discussions and interviews, not to mention his eternal faith in the Chicago Cubs and ``Spike's Emergency BBQ Sauce'' give-a-ways.

Madam Speaker, I wish Spike and his family the best of luck during his retirement and throughout his future endeavors. Morning talk radio in Chicago will not be the same without Spike O'Dell.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of a constituent who gave his life in service to our country. Staff Sergeant Jason Anthony Vazquez, a member of the 2nd Battalion 122nd Field Artillery, died in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Gerdia Seria, Afghanistan on September 17, 2008.

Jason was taken from us too soon, but although he was only 24 years old, he had a profound effect on members of his family, community, and workplace.

Jason was engaged to Genevieve Gonzalez, who remembers with joy the time they shared and the future they planned together. While her future will not be as she thought, she gains strength from the relationship they built and the values he imparted. To honor Jason, Genevieve has helped raise money to provide care packages and cards to the troops serving in Jason's unit.

As an officer with Cook County's Department of Corrections, Jason always left an impression with his optimism, energy and cheerfulness. To honor his memory, the Department has created the Jason A. Vazquez Leadership Award to be given to the most deserving Training Academy graduate each year.

Jason's many aunts, uncles and cousins gained strength from the joy he shared with each of them. His grandparents, Francisco and Leonor Vazquez, cherish the time Jason spent playing catch in the front yard as a young boy, helping with errands as he grew stronger, and sharing stories and wisdom as he grew into a man. His brother and sister, Jose Jr. and Janice, take comfort in the memory of his love of music, his passion for basketball, and his place in the center of any party or gathering. His parents, Jose and Lisa, take pride in the son who grew from a popular and fun-loving Schurz High School '02 classmate to the dedicated young man who wore the uniform of this country, and made the ultimate sacrifice for us.

Madam Speaker, I am honored to pay tribute to this young man, and I am humbled by his service and his sacrifice. I ask that we remember Jason and his family and friends in our thoughts and prayers, and that we honor him and the rest of the men and women who have given their lives in service to our country.

Madam Speaker, this month I proudly join the thousands of Polish Americans living in Chicago in a celebration of Polish history, culture, and pride during Polish American Heritage Month.

This year, Polish Americans celebrate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first Poles to America's first settlement in Jamestown, Virginia. The first five Polish settlers traveled to Jamestown aboard the English ship, the Mary and Margaret, at the invitation of Captain John Smith and the London Company. They arrived on October 1, 1608 and distinguished themselves as America's first tradesmen. Poles, alongside other ethnic groups, were among the pioneers who helped to establish this country as the land of hope and opportunity. Their work ethic helped create the foundations of modern America.

The celebration of this milestone coincides with another important historical landmark: the 90th anniversary of the reinstatement of Polish independence. In 1918, after 123 years of occupation and generations of struggle by the Polish people, Poland reappeared on the map of Europe after World War I.

The United States is grateful to Poland for its friendship and commitment to the democratic ideals of liberty and human rights. Poland is a strong ally of the United States, and I am dedicated to continuing the strong record of cultural and economic ties between our two nations.

My hometown of Chicago has a thriving and active Polish American community. Madam Speaker, I am honored to join the citizens of my district, as well as those of Polish descent around the country in recognizing, remembering, and celebrating Polish American Heritage Month.

Madam Speaker, in the past week, we negotiated what the financial markets needed and what the public market wanted, taxpayer protections. This is only the first step.

While we address the balance sheets of banks, the next step must now address the checkbooks for middle class families and the struggles that they face. The middle class today is working harder, earning less, and paying more. In the last 7 years, median household income has dropped by $1,200, and costs for energy, health care, as well as college education, have gone up $4,800.

The middle class is hurting and squeezing. The second economic program must put their needs at the heart of what we do, because today it is important to have universal access to savings, universal access to higher education, a middle class tax cut.

If you work, you have health care. We must build an energy policy that makes this a hybrid economy, an agenda that puts the middle class at the heart of its economic strategy. Unlike the last 7 years, we will make sure that what we are doing today is successful in the future, because we must strengthen the economy while we save and deal with the financial markets crisis on this short-term basis.

Madam Speaker, today we have learned that things have only gotten worse: 159,000 American jobs were lost in September, the biggest decline since March 2003. I am pleased we are taking this action today.

On the Retirement of Hon. Ray LaHood

But while I have the attention of the Members, I would like to say one thing about a colleague who isn't here but this is his last day, a person who I have gotten to know over the years working, Ray LaHood. This will be his last day here in Congress. He has been a member of the Capitol, both as staff to Bob Michel as well as a Member of Congress.

For all those who are watching, both Ray and I come from Illinois. Ray is a Republican and I am a Democrat. Ray is a Lebanese American, I am a Jewish American. He is supporting John McCain, and I am supporting Barack Obama. He is a great friend of mine. I have learned a lot about him. That type of friendship, that type of people from two different experiences, you can only find in one country in the world, and that is here in America. Two people from totally different backgrounds who have developed a great friendship both not only as individuals, not only as people who work together, but as family. And I will just tell you, I am going to sorely miss somebody who I have gotten to know as a good friend, somebody who in my opinion, if you look back and I think if you ask all our colleagues, somebody when our framers thought of a member of Congress what they had in their mind's eye, that person would be Ray LaHood, whose decency, his sense of what it is that he was doing here on behalf of who he was doing it for never changed in his 30 years. He is an individual who, while firm in his principles, was very flexible about his opinions. I say, if you spend too much time in Washington you become firm in your opinions and it is your principles you are flexible on. Ray never forgot where he was from and the people of Peoria that sent him here.

Now, while he will go on to do many things in his life, his leadership, his thoughtfulness, and his character will be missed by Members of both sides of the aisle. And I wish him well and I wish him congratulations on an outstanding career in public service, but I would hope that Ray could find other ways to also contribute to his country. He has been a good friend, a good colleague, and somebody, I think I can speak for 434 other Members, will be sorely missed from this institution.

There have been a number of important lessons learned in this last year. One, you cannot have a strong economy on a foundation of a weakened middle class. For the last 7 years, the middle class has seen median household incomes decline by $1,200 and costs go up by $4,800. They are working harder, making less, and paying more to maintain their standard of living.

And, second, that this problem is not an earthquake, it's not a natural disaster. It's a manmade disaster, and one in which a philosophy of unregulation created that type of damage. You can come to the conclusion that capitalism is too important to be left to capitalists alone, that the banks that are surviving are the ones that are regulated. The unregulated are the ones that are going under.

People have figured out this problem. The financial industry created things that they don't, themselves, know what the value are. People were buying homes that were being flipped as if they were pancakes. And the regulators that were supposed to be policing this were asleep at the switch; and they're angry at all three, and they have every right to be.

The substance of this legislation has been improved because last Saturday the Treasury Department sent a bill to calm the markets down. And what Congress did in the remaining 7 days is put in there protections for the taxpayers. It had nothing to start with as it related to the taxpayers. The last 7 days was to make sure that the public markets were as protected as the financial markets were calmed. And we have made dramatic improvements in this legislation.

But make no doubts about it: While this may try to avert the recession in the financial sector, our job is not done until we avert the recession on Main Street, that we once again get a growth in jobs, we once again get a growth in median household incomes.

Until we deal with the standard of living of the middle class and return the foundations of this economy to a middle class that is strong, we will never have a healthy economy.

We are doing what is responsible putting out this fire. But make no doubts about it: The remaining days are to also figure out who created the fire and make sure that that arsonist is put in jail.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the firefighters, police officers, sanitation workers, and other Chicagoans who pitched in to help their neighbors in the Albany Park neighborhood and other areas affected by record flooding earlier this month.

When I toured the Albany Park area Sunday before last--after 3 straight days of hard rain and a rising river--I saw streets, parks, sidewalks, and backyards underneath the floodwaters. Chicago bungalows line these streets, and no amount of sandbags could prevent the floodwaters that submerged streets, sidewalks and parks from pouring in.

But rather than chaos, I saw neighbors helping neighbors, and a coordinated response from Chicago's city workers and the Army Corps of Engineers. The city of Chicago coordinated emergency services to be accessible with a telephone call to 311, and Aldermen and other elected officials were on the front lines ensuring residents' safety and organizing the clean-up and rebuilding efforts.

Now that the flood waters have receded, I am working across party lines with my colleagues from all over Cook County and all over Illinois to make sure that our State has the emergency assistance we need and resources to continue the clean-up and rebuilding process. This week, the entire Illinois delegation sent a letter to the President supporting Illinois' request for a major disaster declaration and emergency Federal assistance. We will continue to work together to help our home state just as our constituents have helped one another.

As the saying goes, the colder the weather, the warmer the hearts. Chicagoans have experience braving freezing winters, but in times of need, they have the warmest hearts. I commend the men and women who volunteered to help their neighbors. With families rebuilding homes and lives after these floods, that goodwill and those good works will go a long way to rebuilding neighborhoods like Albany Park, and I am committed to making sure that Chicago has the tools and funds we need to complete the job.

Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably absent from the Chamber for rollcall vote 656 on September 26, 2008. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5352, the Elder Abuse Victims Act of 2008.

This bipartisan legislation increases prosecutions by providing technical, investigative, coordination, and victim assistance resources to law enforcement to support elder justice cases. Additionally, it also provides grants for training, technical assistance, policy development, multidisciplinary coordination and other types of support to local prosecutors handling elder justice--related cases.

Elder abuse is a silent but widespread problem: reports reveal that 500,000 to 5 million senior Americans will be victims of some form of abuse every year, causing illness, suffering, and premature death. In my home state of Illinois, reports to the Illinois Elder Abuse and Neglect Program increased by 48% between 1997 and 2005.

Few pressing social issues have been as systematically ignored as elder abuse. Over the past 25 years, Congress passed comprehensive bills to address child abuse and crimes against women, yet there is not one full-time Federal employee working on elder abuse in the entire Federal Government.

A comparison of federal money spent to fight abuse and neglect shows that less than 2 percent of federal dollars spent on abuse and neglect goes toward elder abuse. In addition, no federal law has yet been enacted that adequately and comprehensively addresses the issues of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

Since my election to Congress, I have been working with my colleagues Rep. Peter King and Senators John Breaux, Orrin Hatch and Blanche Lincoln to pass the Elder Justice Act to protect vulnerable seniors. I am glad the bill before us, the Elder Abuse Victims Act includes many of the crucial law enforcement provisions of the Elder Justice Act. This bill is the first step to understanding--and therefore eradicating--elder abuse.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Pennsylvania for including these crucial provisions in his legislation and I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for H.R. 5352, the Elder Abuse Victims Act.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3232, the Travel Promotion Act of 2007. I want to thank my friend from Massachusetts, Congressman Delahunt, for his hard work on this bill, which would create American jobs, help boost our economy, and improve our image abroad through international goodwill.

The Travel Promotion Act would create a nonprofit entity funded by private companies to promote tourism in the United States, an industry which is vital to our economy and helps improve America's image abroad. For example, last year, Chicago alone welcomed an additional 1.15 million overseas visitors, an increase of 8 percent from 2006. Illinois saw tourism revenue from international visitors rise 15.6 percent to $1.98 billion in 2007.

In addition to tourism being a key component of the American economy, the best way to improve our standing abroad is for people from other countries to come meet Americans and see our cities and sights.

To that end, the Travel Promotion Act can aid in our efforts to bring the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games to Chicago. Encouraging the world to visit Chicago for the Olympics would help showcase us as one of America's greatest cities, helping to build support for the 2016 Games in Chicago. Chicago was the 9th most popular U.S. city for overseas visitors last year, and the more people that visit our city and meet Chicagoans, the more goodwill we will build for our bid for Chicago to be the host city in 2016.

Madam Speaker, millions of Americans came away with a new understanding of China thanks to the Beijing Games this past summer. The Travel Promotion Act can help promote America to people all over the world, and as more people come to Chicago, I am confident that they will know what we know--Chicago is a first class city ready to host the world in 2016.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S.J. Res. 45, the Great Lakes--St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact. I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of the House companion, H.R. 6577.

Almost 40 million people now get their daily drinking water from the Great Lakes. It is the largest body of surface freshwater in North America and contains 20 percent of the world's freshwater supply. It is the economic engine that drives the Midwest. And just as important, the Lakes are a national treasure.

Today we are taking historic action to protect this national treasure by passing the Great Lakes Compact. In 1998, a Canadian company proposed to take water from the Lakes by tanker to Asia, but the Council of Great Lakes Governors (CGLG) banded together and partnered with their Canadian counterparts to find a way to protect our Great Lakes water. The result of that cooperation was the Great Lakes--St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact that we are passing today.

The Great Lakes are a closed system, and less than 1 percent of Great Lakes water is returned annually through snowmelt, rain and groundwater recharge. We need to protect this resource by not only keeping pollutants out, but also by keeping Great Lakes water in the Great Lakes basin.

All eight Great Lakes states have approved the Compact, and I am proud that my home state of Illinois acted quickly, passing it in August of 2007 as the second state to ratify the Compact. Additionally, Ontario and Quebec have passed companion legislation approving the Compact.

The Compact prohibits diversions of Great Lakes water outside of the basin without the permission of the other Great Lakes states, creates regional goals and objectives for water conservation and efficiency, and includes other protections for one of our greatest national resources.

As a father and a member of Congress, ensuring that the Lakes are around for future generations is of the utmost importance to me, which is why I am proud to support the Great Lakes Compact.

Mr. Speaker, the issue of mental health parity doesn't always grab the biggest headlines, but the hard work that Democrats and Republicans have done to pass this landmark legislation will not go unnoticed.

For too long, millions of Americans with treatable mental illnesses have gone without care. Some in the business community and the insurance industry said mental health parity simply costs too much, declined to provide that type of coverage, and patients and their workers and their families suffered.

As those that know, when one individual in the family has an illness, a mental illness, the whole family is affected. That wrong ends today with this legislation. It ends because Democrats and Republicans, under the leadership of Patrick Kennedy, Ted Kennedy and Jim Ramstad, came together to back this landmark legislation, and never gave up.

It ends because even once-skeptical insurance companies and the business community across the country, know that mental health parity is cost effective, and helps ensure that American workers and their families remain healthy and productive. And it is a tremendous victory for the millions of Americans who will finally have access to this type of care.

This issue might not always be on the front page of the newspaper, but millions of Americans will finally get care they need and they will remember the work of those of us who do this.

I'd also like to add a note that while I was campaigning for Congress, I wrote an op-ed on this issue because I had worked in a White House that through executive order, President Clinton signed, as you remember, legislation, Jim, that insured that Federal workers had this and set a model for Federal employees. Not one op-ed I had got more comment from people at the subway stops, at the grocery stores, people who wanted to usually talk about something else until you began that discussion, never really began this discussion, but it touched people of all walks of life, whether it was at the grocery store, on the way to work or on their front doorstep. They told you about what was going on in their family.

Again, it's not the biggest headline; it's not the greatest. It's an important piece of legislation to give people peace of mind that they don't have to hide given the illnesses of depression and other types of substance abuse that they are facing, they now have an insurance policy that allows them and, again I want to say, their family to get protection, because one sick member of a family, with this type of illness, the entire family is affected.

I would like to thank Mr. Ramstad for that. I will try to not use that whole time.

But this is the type of thing that you will find that people who normally wouldn't talk to you about it will tell

you stories of their family, their loved ones, their children who are facing illnesses, and you'll have done something to give them something; and it's ironic and I use this and I mean it when I say, a peace of mind. They will finally know that their sick child who is facing depression can get that care and it doesn't affect the whole family. And they know they got the type of care and they don't have to face a financial decision and being a good parent decision.

We're doing something that allows people to go on with their lives. I want to thank Jim and Patrick and Ted Kennedy for never giving in. When all of us wanted to say, you know, it's just not the right time, it's too hard, the insurance industry doesn't like it. You never gave in. You never gave up. This is your day for making sure America lived up to its best potential. I want to thank you on a personal level from the floor. Thanks, Jim.

Madam Speaker, when I was growing up near Lake Michigan in Chicago, we used to have dead fish on top of the water for the first 30 feet. You had to run through the sand, past all of the dead fish, jump in the water, hold your breath, and go about 30 feet past the dead fish. Then Congress at that time passed the Clean Water Act. After 30- plus years, there is no doubt when you look at all of the Great Lakes, like Lake Michigan in Chicago, the Clean Water Act has been a tremendous success in the Great Lakes region. Kids today swim all across the different lakes because of what this Congress and a President had done in the past.

This act is important. It has been stated here on the floor, over 30 million Americans get their daily drinking water from Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Lake Superior, and Lake Huron. It is the largest body of fresh water in North America and represents a quarter of the world's fresh water. The water here for the future of America will be like the energy debates we are having today, and the Great Lakes and all of the States that border them are the equivalent of our Yellowstone Park, our Grand Canyon. This is our national treasure and we have treated it over the years sometimes like a pond that can just be dumped in.

This act is a small step, but the right step. It is a bipartisan step to protect for a little over 30 million Americans their daily drinking water, to give the States and cities that border this area water and a sense of investment in their future.

Brookings Institute last year did a study. They showed that for every dollar we invest, we get $2 back of economic activity here in the Great Lakes.

This is the right thing to do. But we need to do the next step, the biggest step, build on the Clean Water Act of 30-plus years ago with a great American waterway.

If we invest in our lakes and deal with the basic pollutants, that is invasive species, urban runoff and those types of pollution, we can deal with 93 percent of the problems affecting our lakes, our fresh water.

This is the type of investment that will make sure that not only the regions and the States that border these lakes, but the entire United States, will preserve and invest in one of the most important natural resources in the coming days and years ahead, which is clean water. I am proud of this accomplishment and hope it builds momentum going forward for a Clean Water Act, act II, that invests like the last one of 30 years and takes us to the next generation of what we need to do to deal with the invasive species and deal with the urban runoff and deal with the industrial deposits left from industrial times. If we do those three things, we will have made a dramatic difference in Lake Erie, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lake Huron and Lake Ontario. I am proud to be associated with this great bipartisan legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Carlos Zambrano of the Chicago Cubs on his no-hitter against the Houston Astros on Sunday. In addition to being Zambrano's first no-hitter, it was also the first no-hitter pitched by a Cub since 1972 and only the second in the majors this season. In throwing what some are calling a Zambrano-no, he led the Cubs in a 5-0 victory at Miller Park in Milwaukee.

Perhaps most remarkable about Zambrano's performance on Sunday is the unusual circumstances surrounding the game. Not only had Zambrano missed the last two weeks of games with a sore rotator cuff, but the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ike in Houston also forced Major League Baseball to relocate the game to Milwaukee. The crowd of over 23,000 was comprised of a lot of Cubs fans, and all of us Cubs fans are thankful that the Brewers opened up Miller Park for the occasion, and more importantly, we are thankful that the Astros players, fans and families were able to take their minds off of the storm for a few hours to share baseball history with us.

Carlos Zambrano made his major league debut for the Cubs in 2001 as a 20-year-old and has spent his entire professonal career thus far with my hometown Chicago Cubs. He quickly made his mark as a premier pitcher in the league, earning a spot as a starter in 2003 and becoming the youngest Chicago Cub to pitch in an All-Star Game the next season. He is known not only for his abilities on he mound, but also for his enthusiasm for the game and his prowess with the bat.

On Sunday, Zambrano struck out 10 and walked one and was aided by the stellar defense of his teammates--specifically Derek Lee and Mark DeRosa, who both made great plays to keep the no-hitter alive. But in the end, Zambrano showed that his shoulder was A-OK as he continued to throw pitches upward of 95 miles per hour into the 9th inning, striking out the final batter of the game en route to his 14th victory of the season, putting the Cubs 7\1/2\ games up in the National League Central Division going into today's game.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the Cubs' neighbors in Lakeview and throughbut Chicagoland, I congratulate Carlos Zambrano and all of his Chicago Cubs teammates the first Cubs no-hitter in 36 years.

Mr. Speaker, for 30 years, since the first oil shock of 1973, we've been facing an energy crisis in the United States. And let's be honest and level with the American people, both parties have missed opportunities to deal with it. And the American people hold all of us accountable.

So I'm proud that this Congress, in its first time in less than a year, increased the fuel efficiency standards for cars, something that's been kicked around, talked about for 30 years. This Congress in its short, first year took action.

And I'm proud that our Republican colleagues who claim to be for the all-of-the-above energy policy can vote for the most comprehensive energy policy and legislation in 20 years, what we have here today.

Now, listen. You can be for drilling offshore. And this bill provides 300 additional acres of drilling. But that is not a cure to our energy independence. It is not just drilling offshore, but it's also what we do onshore in our laboratories, our universities with our innovation and our technology for our energy independence.

This bill provides that we invest in our renewable energy technologies and ends big subsidies for big oil companies. We require utility companies to use wind, solar and biomass to generate more electricity.

What I'm most proud about is also what it does in the area of natural gas, which those who are in the industry see as revolutionary for their industry. Natural gas is 100 percent U.S. supply, 33 percent cleaner and 40 percent cheaper. And it provides the infrastructure to make sure that our auto industry can start to convert and start to use natural gas, something Europe has been doing and the United States has been lagging. And here's an energy source that today is available. Just in the State of Utah, drivers can pay $0.83 per gallon if they fill up with natural gas.

So the question is before us, are we going to have an energy policy that keeps us wedded to the past or begins to invest in our future? And this is the opportunity to do that.